The tale of a hero
by No Spare Words
Summary: A tale of a hero who undergoes a life of struggling, fighting and killing only to be met up with the greatest evil in all of infinite; he gets the girl along the way there by the way.... R&R plz
1. Disclaimer

*****NOTE : I DO NOT OWN FFVIII OR ANY PART OF SQUARESOFT. I NEVER HAVE AND I MOST LIKELY NEVER WILL.*****  
  
BTW, pardon all of the grammar mistakes in the story. I'm not the best writer and when I reread the story I realized that the tenses don't match up. Right now, I can't do anything about it because my computer with all of the chapters crashed, leaving me with an out-of-date backup that a friend gave me. If I get enough time later, I might just go back and fix it up, but for now, I'll leave it be. Have fun reading.. 


	2. Introduction

**Introduction **

_            Black.  Black with night.  Nothing was visible through the carpet of shadows of the landscape.   Squall, the main character in this maze of nothingness, tries to feel around for a light switch or something that will make it a little brighter, yet all in vain.  There is not a single sound to be heard within thedarkness, not a single breath, not a single sigh….  ___

            From everywhere, and at the same time from nowhere, small sweet voices began to undertone the shadows of the dark. "I'll be here…I'll be waiting here…",_ **Who is this?,** "I'll be waiting…for you…so…if you come here…, **_Who are you?!,_"you'll find me…I promise…"  **_

            Then all was silent again.  

            **_What the hell was that?_**

**When he gave up and faced the hasty conclusion that they mean nothing, he proceeded to stare into the thick nothingness that lay in front of him.**

            **_I can't see anything…ah, whatever…if I just walk straight, I have to get somewhere, right,__ thought Squall yet still confused.  So he nonchalantly began to walk and the panorama of nothingness behind him faded out and a new scene faded in.  He was now in a meadow of flowers.  This field seemed infinite to him, who now stopped to survey his surroundings, bedazzled.   _**

           **_What are these?  Lilies?  White…lilies?_**

           He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the vocalizing in the background.  The singing was performed by a set of sweet, harmonious voices. The melodious voices, that could almost be mistaken for saint's voices, filled up the background and drowned out the sighs of the doves and the hums of the bees.  He laid himself on the soft earth, crushing a few flowers in doing so.  His head rested on his arms as he stretched his body and closed his eyes.

           **_Ah, so this is what bliss feels like…_**

           Our ignorant main character spoke too soon, for out of clear blue sky came a series of black, swirling clouds.  They filled up the sky and killed off any traces of so-called 'bliss'.  Squall got up to look around.  Then out of the depths of the newly formed shadows, three giant glossy shards of ice shot towards him.  Two missed, but one painfully struck him in his red, pulsating heart and ripped through his body.  He yelled in agony as his body was thrown back down to the floor with the full force of the javelin spear of ice.  

            He moved his hands up to the long shaft of frozen water and touched it.

            The pain was overwhelming him.  He grabbed for the ice, trying to rip it out.  Somewhere, in the back of his subconscious mind, he knew that even if he did get it out, he is dead.  He struggled with it for a short time, and then the pain got the better of him.  He peacefully lowered himself to the floor.

            **_Rest…_**

**_            Warmth…_**

**_            Sleep…_**

**He accepted the end and he slowly closed his eyes and relaxed in the warmth that has spread over his stomach and was now leaking down over his knees…**


	3. Simply Practice

**Simply Practice**

            Squall sat up in his bed with sweat trickling down his face in beads, huffing and puffing uncontrollably.  It was all a dream...

He sat there, gasping for air like a fish out of water, the dream reverberating in his mind.  **_Odd__ **dreams I'm having…it must be all of this anxiety.**  Our main character was supposed to take an exam that day which would have determined whether he became a SeeD or not.  SeeD is an organization developed for a simple purpose, to be a force to be reckoned with.  They were sent all over the world to eliminate threats anywhere.  _**

It takes great skill to become a SeeD – two tests must be taken and the student must get remarkably high grades on both.  It is said that as little as four or five students get picked out every year from the fifty or sixty who take the tests.  

            Squall abruptly got out of his bed, accidentally brushing the covers on the floor as he did so.  He went to his mini-fridge stashed in the corner of his dormitory room and pulled out a jar of orange juice.  **_All of these whacky thoughts are all in my head; I'm not going to get shipped off to the middle of nowhere and have an icicle rammed through my chest…its just impossible.  _**He pulled a plastic cup out from on top of a shelf that is a little bit higher than eye-level and poured himself a glass of O.J.  He took a sip of it, and it tasted bitter.  Some of the beads of sweat trickling down his face have mixed with his juice.  **_Disgusting!_**  He put down the glass of O.J., suddenly losing any feeling of thirstiness he had previously had.

            Squall walked over to the desk balanced neatly atop three legs and flipped through the monthly issue of that new Timber Maniacs comic his roommate signed up for.  **_How does he read this bull?_**  He read the first page and flipped it aside, fishing for his clothing through squinted eyes.  He lamely grabbed his shirt and a pair of pants, threw them on and he, like magic, came into full bloom and was awake.

*          *          *

            As Squall came out of his dormitory standing 5'8", dressed in his all famous black shirt and pants with a simple undershirt to complement that, he took long strides walking towards his classroom.  He passed by a couple of girls huddled in a corner talking about only god knows what. **_Ah, the trepies…they seem to be everywhere.  Part of the most anti-social club I have ever seen.  But who am I to be thinking that other people are anti-social…_**

**The trepies are a club that is made up of young males and females who worship Instructor Quistis Trepe, one of the nicest, most considerate people employed in Balamb Garden – the school/mercenary training facility which Squall is attending.  **_Sure, Quistis might be nice and all, but why would anyone want to make a club devoted to her…it practically earned the title of cult already.  _****

            Squall, now frightened by the trepies' god-awful stares piercing into the side of his head like lasers, sped up his pace and virtually hovered past the lot of them.  But, to his misfortune, he bumped into someone worse…far worse.  He was too busy pondering about the trepies to notice that the path he was trotting out on the marble floor of Balamb Garden led him straight into a white trench coat.  A white trench coat that rested atop the shoulder of a person named Seifer – Squall's destined rival, some say.  The rest of his gang, Raijin and Fujin, stayed behind Seifer awaiting the battle to come.  **_Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin.  I guess that makes up the whole disciplinary committee.  _The three were involved with Balamb Garden's disciplinary committee, handing out punishment to those who deserved it.  The students of the Garden argued with headmaster Cid about how making Seifer part of the committee was not the most intelligent choice he could make, but he paid no attention – he trusted all of his students equally. **

            "Hey, watch where you're goin', Leonhart.  We don't want anyone getting hurt here," said Seifer in his annoyingly low voice, "…Or do we?" 

**_            …Whatever…_ thought Squall as he walked away from Seifer.  **

            "Yeah, that's right, walk away like the cowering pup you are.  Walk away and never look back."  Seifer imitated a dog whine, while his two jigsaw pieces of a posse, Raijin and Fujin, produced a faint chuckle in the background.  

            Raijin is a tall, dark male with black hair who holds a heavy club with both hands.  He trains in martial arts and can easily knock a person much taller than Seifer off of his feet.  He wears a vest that seems three sizes too small (perhaps on purpose, to show off his masculine body) and baggy black pants down to below his ankles.  His feet rest in casual shoes that he bought in a junk-shop in Balamb a couple of years before, even though he brags about them being custom made.

            Squall might have a few things on his mind right now, but he never lets Seifer talk to him like that.  He turned to look the 6'2" tall foe in the eye.  

            "Yeah, that's right, little man, you look at me when I'm talking to you.  I offer you a challenge – you and me, right now, in the training field."  Seifer stretched his leather-gloved hand out, index finger forward, towards the hallway leading to the training field.  "Just a bit of…practice.  You know, to psych you up for the tests."  From the second this statement landed on his ears, Squall was ready to accept it.  He would whomp him once and for all, so that Seifer would leave him alone.  He glanced at the clock hanging from the wall to make sure that he had enough time for a bit of practice before the trial.  11:27. **_Perfect, we have time for one duel before the trial at twelve._**

            Fujin, on the other hand, is a short, light-skinned (even pale) female that is shorter than her friends.  She wears a blue over-shirt and black pants that resemble Raijin's, except her pants are tight.  She has white hair and she wears an eye patch across her left eye.  Some say it is an early war wound.  She looks up to Seifer, both figuratively and literally. 

            "Let's go," said Squall.

            At the sound of this, Seifer's posse, if it even deserves that name, drew their weapons, which consist of a makeshift club held by Raijin, and a pinwheel held by Fujin, and got ready to lunge in front of him to help him take Squall on.  He stopped them with both of his outstretched hands, and whispered, "This is between me and him.  Please stay out of it."  

            He then turned back to Squall, brushed his blond hair back with his gloved hand and said, in his mildly uncomforting tone, "Don't keep me waiting, shorty, I'll be there in five."  And with this, he turned on the heel of his boot, cape billowing as he walked, leaving Squall the slightly uncomfortable task of dealing with the ever increasing crowd.  He saw a few gawking faces that have appeared to see what spectacle these two rivals would put on for them this time.  They've been fighting for as long as the crowd can remember, and they kind of hoped that they wouldn't let them down now.

            Squall didn't like awkward situations, so he glanced around and turned to head in the opposite direction towards his dorm to get his gunblade for the face-off with Seifer which, now that it occurred to him, he forgot in his room….  

*          *          *

            The two swords met to produce a brilliant show of fireworks that filled up the stadium.  Sparks flew ubiquitously in all directions, some smoldering Seifer and Squall's leather gloves, while others dumbly landed on the rocky floor of the arena.  Squall had taken up Seifer's challenge, and he knew that he was going to make him think twice about challenging him again.  

            The two gunblades met again, producing another round of sparks that did minor damage to both fighters.  Neither noticed and they both continued the fight as normal.  In the background, rolling thunder proceeded towards the training field, threatening to dismiss any chance of finishing this duel in the next fifteen or twenty minutes.  Squall noticed the thunder in between two rough blows.  **_Damn it!  Just a little more time, and I'll teach this punk a le-  _**

            Squall's thoughts were interrupted by the gust of wind from his opponent's sword – a sword that fell centimeters short from his face.  **_Wow, Seifer is playing for real today.  _Seifer swung at Squall again, trying to gain the upper hand in this brawl.  Squall quickly dodged the oncoming projectile and sidestepped behind Seifer.  He then swung his gunblade with all of his might, hoping to knock the gunblade from Seifer's hand.  But Seifer is also not without skills.  He sensed the oncoming blade and deflected it just in time to see an up-close view of the lion on Squall's gunblade.  ****_"Griever"_, Seifer thought, **_that's the idiot name that oaf gave his lion.  It takes skill to think of something that stupid.  Hell, he even has a chain with that pussy-cat on it!_****

            Griever was Squall's role model.  Squall believed that everyone can relate to some sort of animal, and in his case, it's a lion.  He wished to be a lion, because it is graceful, intelligent, and accurate - All of the skills a person needs to be a SeeD; the king of the jungle.

            Squall evaded another set of oncoming blows and charged at Seifer, hoping to, once-and-for-all, finally get the upper hand.  But this time, something unexpected happened.  Seifer hit Squall's gunblade with all of his might, and Squall's weapon flew out of his hands, landing a couple of meters from both of the duelists.  Squall stood in dismay, his eyes darting from his fallen gunblade to his opponent and back, hoping to see Seifer's next move.

            "Well…?  We are just practicing, right?  Go get your weapon…," said Seifer in an unsettling tone.  Squall is the type of person who likes to depend on himself.  He earns his victories, and takes his punishment, both like a man.   He knew that Seifer considered this battle more than practice, even if he didn't show it.  He's just giving Squall a second chance because he wants to win "gracefully". He doesn't need anyone to spare him or hand him second chances, like the person in front of him was doing.  **_Damn that fool!_**  Squall despised Seifer even more then than before.  But, there was nothing for him to do but walk that set of paces toward his weapon and continue the fight.

            Squall began to walk toward his trusty gunblade and griever.  He walked sideways so as not to miss anything cheap that his opponent had up his sleeve.  Squall clenched and unclenched his fists with every step for he sensed his foes eyes rapidly yet carefully following him.  Unbelievably, Seifer stood there in utter amusement fixing the glove on his right hand and waiting, mentally telling him to **_Bring it on!_**   

            Our skilled fighter finally reached his sword, and quickly grabbed for it.  He took it from the ground without a moment's hesitation, and jumped toward his opponent, now really ticked off.  Seifer, although only a few meters away from Squall, somehow found time to taunt him some more; he laid his gunblade and right hand on his shoulder, and stuck out his left, telling him to "bring it on" again, this time physically.

            Seifer's taunt was interrupted by Squall's blade chopping at him several times, heavily burdening Seifer's gunblade as it was virtually suspended in mid-air by the impacts.  Seifer's confident face now seemed broken down to the last bit, and he finally seemed worn out.  **_I will win!_**  **_I can't lose to this numbskull.  He deserves to lose._**  In between Squall's blows, Seifer pushed him to the floor, making Squall seem clumsy and unwary as he stumbled.  Seifer thought **_Lucky this idiot doesn't have a crowd… _**

            Squall picked himself up, balancing himself on his gunblade in the process, but Seifer pushed him again, making him fall flat on his back, raising a cloud of dust from the rocky earth.

            With Squall on his back, Seifer saw his opportunity.  He stretched out his hand and a stream of fire shot out of his palm, through leather glove and all, headed directly towards Squall.  Squall was hit…badly.  He tried to get up, but he couldn't.  The best he could accomplish was to use his gunblade as a crutch.  **_That cheap bastard!  He's using magic in a training session?!_**  To Squall's astonishment, Seifer wasn't done yet.  He lifted his hand, and gunblade, high over his head, and Squall sensed what he was going to do next.

            "This, Squall, is for ever challenging me in the first place."

            Seifer let the gunblade cut the air on the way towards Squall's face.  Squall could only contemplate what to do, for he was completely immobilized and defenseless.  The gunblade and his face connected, throwing Squall backward as the blade ran down the side of his nose causing a sharp stream of blood to leak onto the dry, rocky ground.

            Squall screamed.  Pain spread across his face and down his neck, with anger being its complement.  He wanted to get Seifer back.  He, with all of the strength he could muster up, lifted himself up, and let the gunblade rip the air on its way towards Seifer in a last and final attempt to win this duel.  It had streaked across his foe's face, but Squall didn't see nor comprehend what he has just done – he was in too much pain.

            Squall limped around a little, trying to yell for help.  Unfortunately, he soon ran out of strength and abruptly fell onto his back.  And Squall was launched back into dream-world as he lay on the floor, with drops of red leaking into his mouth and nose.  He was back in his own personal "bliss"…


	4. Ifrit

**Ifrit**

            Bright lights filled the room as Squall awakened.  **_Where am I?  _He rubbed his eyes with both of his hands, and slowly came to the realization that he has a scar running down the side of his nose.  ****_That idiot!  _He tried to get up, but the gently rested hand on his shoulder forbade him to do so.  It was Dr. Kadowaki, and Squall was laying on one of the beds in the infirmary.  **

            "Ah, you're back.  Good, good.  Are you feeling better?", said Dr. Kadowaki in a gently voice.

            "…I've been better.  My forehead hurts a little."  **_That damn idiot Seifer…_**

            "That was expected.  You got beat up pretty bad in your 'practice' with Seifer.  Say your name for me, so I can make sure you are back to your normal self again."

            "…Squall…"

            "Good, excellent.  Let's see…your instructor is Quistis Trepe, if I'm not mistaken."  As usual, Dr. Kadowaki was not mistaken, and she walked over to her private office and called Quistis.  

            While Dr. Kadowaki was in the other room, a female came up to the glass pane window and eyed Squall.  She was wearing a blue dress with a green shawl held by both of her arms.  "Ah, Squall.  So we meet yet again…"  Squall looked at her, but he didn't recognize her.  She examined Squall for a couple of seconds, and then she walked off.

            Squall's head continued to pound, but Squall decided not to complain.  **_What's the point in complaining?  It'll pass soon enough.  _Just as Squall was ready to get up again, Dr. Kadowaki came back in.**

            "We are going to wait for your instructor.  Until then, you are not to move or get out of this bed," said the doctor.  "Oh, and next time you fight Seifer, try not to get hurt."  She had a caring look in her eyes that didn't really surprise Squall.

            The door to the infirmary glided open, and a 5'6" tall blonde female walked through.  She walked down the hall of the infirmary towards Squall's bed, turned on her heel and let out a deep sigh as she saw him.  "I knew it would be either you or Seifer!"

            Seeing Quistis reminded Squall that he forgot he had to take the exam scheduled for today.  "…What time is it?", said Squall trying to hide any feeling of nervousness he has just received.  

            Quistis replied, "Five minutes to Two.  Yes, you're right – you have missed the field exam.  What can you _possibly do now?"  Quistis had an aura of cool surrounding her that encouraged Squall to think that she had an answer to that question.  She wanted to let Squall figure it out._

            Squall just sat there, contemplating his options and what his next step was going to be.  He remembered that SeeD candidates had three assigned times that they could take the test – 12:00, 2:30, and 6:00.  "Instructor, don't seed candidates have three chances to take the test?", Squall said, finally sitting up.

            "Ah, smart thinking, Squall."  She grinned.  "So what do you suggest?  You want to take it at 2:30?"

            **_That shouldn't be a problem, as long as that moronic Seifer doesn't bother me anymore.  _**"Sure…I'll take the test at 2:30.  Will you be my support?"  Every SeeD candidate who takes the field exam must be accompanied by his or her own instructor.  Its part of the rules of the exam, and every student abides by them.  Also, the students highly doubt that they would pass the test unaided, let alone survive them.

            "I would love to," said "Quisty" with a smile on her face.  "Come on, then.  Get ready for it.  Only," she glanced at her watch, "twenty-seven minutes left."  And just like that, she skipped out the door, headed to the classroom.  Squall knew that he had to get to the classroom and listen to at least part of the class.  Even though he won't learn anything, it will keep his attendance up.  He got out of bed, thanked Dr. Kadowaki, and proceeded out of the door towards the lift up to the second floor classroom.

*          *          *

            Squall walked through the door, and was greeted by the wondering eyes of the trepies and the calm voice of his instructor, whom was already sitting at her desk, going through some paper work.  Squall dragged his feet towards his desk, and plopped down, awaiting the lesson today will bring.

            One of the people sitting next to him whispered something in his ear, but he couldn't quite make it out.  It sounded something like, "Hey, you're very late.  Class is ending already."  **_Oh crap!_**  Time flies by when you're limping through a maze of hallway….

            Then he tuned in to Quistis's voice, "…people who didn't take the field exam in the morning, or who failed the written exam last week shall wait here.  All those who didn't fail, get ready for the next round of tests, which will commence at 2:30 – in seven minutes – and 6:00 – in three hours and thirty seven minutes.  Squall, meet me outside in five."  She turned to go.  "Oh, and Seifer," she said as the door opened, "please try not to hurt your opponent in training next time, ok?!"

            Seifer, enraged at Quistis's words, slammed his fist down onto the marble desk, leaving an indent singed with his hatred.  **_That boy Leonhart deserves to get a whooping every once in a while…it's not my fault he's such a cry baby!_**

            When Seifer looked at him, Squall had a chance to see what damage he has done.  Come to think of it, this is the first time Squall got to examine what damage he had done to Seifer during their duel.  He looked at his face out of the corner of his right eye, and saw that Seifer has a matching scar going up the right side of his nose.  **_Well…at least we're even._**

            Squall got up and walked down the center of the classroom towards the exit door.  The sorrowful glances of the trepies haunt him to the very end of his path.  He could have sworn that he heard one of them whisper, "Wow, to be alone with Quistis Trepe…lucky you…"**_,_** **_For the love of all that is holy,  these guys are freaks!  _**

            As he walked through the hallway, he heard the distressed voice of a young female traveling directly towards him.  "Oh, I'm late, I'm late, I'M LATE!!!"

            He rounded the corner and bumped into a girl standing no taller than 5'1".  The girl got knocked down, but Squall remained standing, just thrown backwards a little.

            Squall looked at her in shock, waiting for her to get up or say something.

            The girl got up and wiped herself off, "There," she giggled, and said, "Sorry about that."  Then she added, "Hey, did you just come from that classroom?"  She pointed to the classroom Squall just came out of and Squall nodded yes.  The girl bit her lip, "Is class over?"  Squall nodded yes again.  The girl broke down, "Ohh, this Garden is so much bigger than my last garden.  I've been late for 5 classes already," then she obviously had an idea, "Hey, can you give me a tour of the place?  It would really help…"

            Squall contemplated this and then said, "…No, sorry.  I don't have much time on my hands right now…maybe later."

            The girl looked at Squall through deep puppy eyes and said, "Aww, come on!  Just a couple of minutes…please?"

            Squall shook his head no and the girl's face suddenly became flushed with anger, "Fine, forget I ever asked…I'll just find someone else to give me a tour.  Good BYE!"  She turned and walked off, purposely stomping her feet.

            As he walked through the hall, he saw Quistis leaning up against the wall, waiting for her student.  "Let's go?"

            "Yeah," Squall replied absent-mindedly as he continued to look over his back at the trepies in the classroom who, in his mind, were scaring the hell out of him.

            The pair proceeded down the hall towards the front gate of Balamb Garden.  "Squall, this is your last chance.  Are you sure you are prepared?  Gunblade and all?", said Quistis thoughtfully.

            "Yes, lets just go," said Squall.  He was still infuriated by Seifer and the scar that was left on his forehead.  

            The pair traveled on the dirt road that has been man-made from Balamb Garden to the fire cavern.  Inside the fire cavern, Squall is supposed to defeat and capture a guardian force that goes by the name of Ifrit.  Ifrit is a fire demon that resides deep within the Earth.  **_Horns like a bull, mane like a lion, and a body like both combined…_** Squall remembers Ifrit's description within the Balamb Garden Library Archive.  Squall's thoughts were interrupted by Quistis's attempt at a conversation. 

            "Why do you always fight with Seifer?" asked Quistis.  "Is it because you are trying to impress him?"

            "It's none of your business…" replied Squall cold-heartedly.  "I just want to teach him a lesson so that he would leave me alone once and for all."

            "You know that you two belong to your own class.  No-one has your skill…or stubbornness for that matter…"

            Squall didn't answer to this comment.  Talking about Seifer reminded him more and more of how he let down his guard and earned himself a scar.  "Can we change the subject?" 

            Quistis, as if not hearing Squall, said, "Just one question."  She grabbed Squall by the jacket and said, "Why do you bother with him?"

            "…Because he is a bully."  He looked her straight in the eye.  "The only way to teach him a lesson is to beat him at his own game.  You beat him once, you beat him for good."  Squall wiped away Quistis's hand and continued to walk.  

*          *          *

            The fire cavern is a simple, naturally made cave indented into the wall of a not-so-high mountain.  It is a hot-spot for free-flowing magma out of the earth's core.  The heat inside can cause rock to melt in some places.  As Squall and Quistis came up to the entrance of the fire-cavern, they saw two of the Garden Staff – both dressed in dark purple gowns with yellow hats shielding their faces, making them unseen. Both Squall and Quistis came up to the Garden Staff and did the SeeD salute.

            "Permission to take today's field exam.  Time – 2:30."  Said Squall in a uniform voice that impressed Quistis.  

            "At ease, boy."  One of the Garden Staff eyed Squall and asked, "Is she your support?", rolling his (or her for that matter) head towards Quistis.

            Quistis responded, "Yes, I shall be Squall Leonhart's support.  Quistis Trepe, instructor I.D. number 37."

            The Garden Staff eyed Quistis and then looked at the wooden clipboard which he held in a robed right hand, checked off two names, and said, "Time limit?"

            Squall thought carefully, as if planning inside his head, yet never letting his eyes slip from the Garden Staff's, and finally said, "20 minutes."

            "Alright," said the garden staff.  He pulled out the timer and clicked a couple of buttons.  "You may proceed." 

            "Thank you," said Squall as he and Quistis rushed past the two Garden Staff.   

*          *          *

            Inside the fire cavern, it was extremely hot.  **_How can anything live in here?!  _Squall corrected himself – **_Maybe the fact that Ifrit is a fire demon has something to do with it, genius!  _**Squall held back a chuckle at his own ignorance, and the duo proceeded deeper into the unknown.  **

            "Are you nervous?" asked Quistis.

            "No…" Squall replied coolly.  He had every confidence that he will complete this exam.

            "That's good.  Most of the students that come along with me for the test crack because they are nervous.  They can't handle the pressure and give up.  I'm happy you're not like that."

            "…Whatever…"

            As they walked through the sweltering maze, stalactites hanging from the ceiling threatened the pair.   

            "You know I got my Instructor license at 17?  Only one year ago."

**_            Wow, and you already have a cult devoted to you! _ Squall held back another chuckle.**

            "What's so funny?"  After a short pause, Quistis sighed and continued to talk, "I still can't believe that it's been only one year…"

            "Why are you telling me this?"  Squall responded coldly.

            "Just trying to make conversation…trying to keep you calm."

            "Didn't I tell you that I am calm?  Don't make pointless conversation during the exam.  How much time left?"

            Quistis, feeling shut down, answered, "13:24 seconds."

            As they came to a fork in the road, Squall looked to Quistis for which way to go.  Quistis remained silent, giving Squall a hint towards the fact that she was lost.  Squall looked around, disappointed, trying to find some sign, some visible proof that one of the ways is the right way to go.  By a stroke of luck, he saw a sign on the crusty, red clay that made up the west wall of the Fire Cavern.  The sign read, "The right road leads to Ifrit, the wrong one doesn't."  **_BIG help!  _thought Squall sarcastically. **

            But even though it may have been a stupid move, he took the sign literally, and both he and Quistis ended up taking the right road.  **_Oh, what the hell.  We have nothing to lose now anyway._**  Some time later, Squall asked Quistis how much time they had left.

            "6:38", replied Quistis.  

            The couple proceeded in silence until they finally reached the end of the labyrinth.  Quistis asked, "Are you ready?"

            Squall remained silent as he walked up to the hole filled with lava.  Quistis was not too far behind.  She caught up and they relaxed a little, awaiting their challenger.

            In a couple of seconds, the ground began to tremble and out of the magma came Ifrit, splashing burning rock all around him in a brilliant show of natural pyrotechnics.  This 7'4" creature had the head of a lion with protruding fangs and a mane.  He had a very muscular body that could easily surpass that of a human.  He was armed with nothing but the half-foot long claws on both of his hands and feet.  The humongous brown beast jumped in front of Squall and Quistis and stared at them, as if ready for battle.  **_Just like in the library…_**  

            "…HUMANS?!?!", roared Ifrit in a raspy, tormenting voice.

            "We have come to challenge you, and if we win, you are to come along with us," yelled Squall, trying to match the loudness of Ifrit's own voice. 

            "CHALLENGE?  ME?!"  Ifrit let out a bawling laugh and then proceeded to speak, "YOU ARE EITHER VERY SMART, OR VERY STUPID!  ONLY ONE OF US WILL SURVIVE THIS MATCH, AND I CAN GUARANTEE THAT IT WON"T BE YOU, OR HER FOR THAT MATTER!!!"

            Without responding, Squall pulled out his gunblade and Quistis her whip and they got into fighting stance.  "The battle starts now."

*          *          *

            Squall started circling Ifrit, trying to find a weak point on his ever-so-masculine body, but he managed nothing.  Quistis just stood there, ready to back up her student if worst comes to worst.  

            When she saw that Squall was having trouble, Quistis decided to help him so she proceeded to circle Ifrit as well.  Ifrit stood there eyeing Squall, not even glancing at Quistis.  He realized that Squall was more capable of doing damage, since he had a gunblade.  "FOOLISH HUMAN.  STOP WASTING TIME AND ATTACK ALREADY!!!"

            Squall swung his gunblade over his shoulder and charged at Ifrit, hoping to show him that he is more than capable of bringing him down.  Squall sliced at the monster, but the only thing he accomplished was a skin wound.  Ifrit didn't even flinch; he just laughs.  "YOU THINK THAT"S GOING TO STOP ME?!"  Squall was thrown back at the strength of his voice. 

            Before Squall could attack again, Ifrit jumped up into the air, landing right next to Squall.  He then swung his arm full-force and hit Squall with the back of his hand.  Squall was thrown against the wall of the labyrinth and knocked unconscious, leaving a crack in the wall that vaguely resembled a large spider-web from afar.  

            Quistis saw that Squall was on the floor, and she now truly comprehended the power of this mighty beast.  She glared at the Guardian Force, and her eyes widened as she saw that his next target is her.

            She took a potion out of her handbag, opened it, and threw it towards Squall.  The contents of the vial spilled out across Squall's face but, to her surprise, he still lay there, lifeless.  Ifrit continued to pace towards Quistis, busily contemplating how he would rip her to shreds.  

            Ifrit cornered Quistis and looked at her puny body.  "I TOLD YOU THAT THIS SHALL BE OVER QUICKLY."  He chuckled, and raised his clawed hand above his head ready to strike.  Quistis let out a small cry as she saw that Ifrit already swung at her.  

            One or two feet from Quistis' face, however, Ifrit roared wildly and missed his target, ripping off a chunk of rock from the wall of the cave.  His body was lowered to the floor but Quistis saw that this was from inertia, not weakness.  Ifrit got up and turned around, allowing Quistis to see the cause of his pain.  The guardian force had a gunblade protruding from his spine.  Standing next to Ifrit was our trusty Squall, grinning at the damage he had done to the lion man.

            But to his surprise, Ifrit turned around, ripped the gunblade from its position and flung it back at its owner.  Squall couldn't believe the spectacle that he just saw, but he had no time to think about it, what with griever flying at him and all.  He ducked, and his gunblade flew past him, embedding itself in the wall of the labyrinth behind him.  **_What the…?!  What kind of a monster is this?_  Squall ran up to the wall and picked up his gunblade which was still, surprisingly, in-tact.  He turned around and assumed fighting stance, ready to take another swing at Ifrit if he had to. **

            The fight continued for a couple of minutes, and both Quistis and Squall were worn out.  Quistis heard Squall yell, "Time?!", in the background.  She answered with, "1:25".

            Ifrit continued to slash his claws until both of the fighters were cornered with no way out.  They stood in defensive stance, praying for a miracle.  Then, another stroke of luck saves all.  The duo stared Ifrit in the eyes until out of the heavens, four orbs of light fell from the sky and landed in between the two opposing sides.  Squall was surprised that a Guardian Force would come to help them now.  The four orbs hit the ground and each other forming a small puddle of ice.  From within this sheet of ice, a jagged iceberg rammed through the ground.  Within the iceberg was the Guardian Force known as Shiva.  Shiva had come to help Squall and Quistis in their fight against Ifrit. 

**_            Ironic…_ Squall thought…**_That we could witness how two demons, of opposing forces, fire and ice, battle it out._**  But Shiva wouldn't stay for long, as Squall knew, for GF's can't survive for long in the same dimension as humans.  They belong to another world – a world of which humans only dreamed.**

            She stretched her arms out towards the opposing guardian force and Ifrit was engulfed in terrible, terrible cold.  The cold produced ice around the fire demon, stopping him and freezing him in his tracks.  **_Unbelievable!  _Then, with the snap of her fingers, Shiva caused all of the ice surrounding Ifrit to crack and break, terribly hurting Ifrit and lowering him to the floor.  And with this, Shiva was gone.**

            "WHAT?!  THEY HAVE SHIVA?!"  Roared the fire demon, dumbfounded by the sheer force of the mystic ice goddess.  Squall saw his opportunity as Ifrit stood there on one knee, helpless.  **_I can't believe that I shall now sink down to Seifer's level…_  But he had to.  He took his gunblade in his right hand and sliced down into Ifrit. The blade cut him but, surprisingly, no blood was spilled.  Squall saw the gash that was left running down Ifrit's toned chest and, as Ifrit fell to the floor, he knew the fight was over.  **

            Squall leaned down on one knee near Ifrit, and stared at the damage he had caused.  Squall hesitated for a second about claiming this Guardian Force, but he then reconsidered it.  Ifrit apparently dissolved into thin air as Squall 'sucked' him into his own head.  **_I did it…_  Now Ifrit belonged to Squall.  Quistis clapped her hands behind Squall to show how proud she was.  Squall glanced at her and walked away disappointed.  **_Damn you, Seifer…_** **

*          *          *

            As they walked back towards the cavern entrance, they didn't speak at all, walking along at a steady pace now that the test was finished.  The duo walked through the entrance and Squall opened his mouth to tell the Garden Staff that the task was done.  But to his surprise, there was not a single person left – only him and Quistis.  He closed his mouth and looked at Quistis.  His instructor answered the gaze with a dumbfounded look on her own face.  **_These Garden Staff people freak me out sometimes.  _**


	5. The First Battlefield

**The First Battlefield**

            As Squall and his partner made it back to the brightly-lit garden, Quistis stopped him and said, "That was great work out there today.  Go to your dorm, get some rest.  Prepare for the field exam.  And most importantly, stay out of trouble."

            Squall knew right away what, or whom, she was referring to when she said the word 'trouble'.  **_Don't worry, instructor, I won't bother Seifer unless he bothers me._**  Squall walked away towards his dorm.

            Once he reached his dorm, he noticed what looked like the same glass of orange juice that he was drinking that morning standing next to the Timber Maniacs comic.  His roommate didn't even bother to clean up.   **_Not like he ever does…_**  

            Squall didn't care much for his roommate or the fact that he didn't clean much.  He was tired and wanted to go to sleep.  He reached his bed and tiredly collapsed into it.  In a few moments, Squall was asleep and nothing in the world could bother him.

                                                 *         *          *

            "Attention, attention!  All students taking today's field exam proceed to the main lobby.  Attention! All students taking today's field exam proceed to the main lobby immediately."

            Squall woke up to the sound of the loudspeaker ringing in his ears.  He got out of bed and looked at the clock hanging from the wall in front of him.  To his dismay, it was only 5:23.  **_It seemed like I was sleeping forever.  _The most surprising thing that Squall noticed was that his anxiety-related dreams, or so it seems, have ended.  This was the first time he fell asleep and didn't have any nightmares for a long time.  **__****

            Squall, fully dressed since he fell asleep fully dressed, walked out of his dormitory room and began his walk towards the main lobby.  Halfway there he remembered that he had to change into the cadet uniform for the Field Exam.  **_Damn…_**

**Squall rushed back to his dorm and changed into the cadet uniform; a tasteless, grey cotton costume with gold designs on both of the shoulders and matching pants.  He tried to admire the uniform in his mirror or figure out some way in which it looked good but his efforts were in vain.**_  To hell with it…_**  He walked out and proceeded to the main lobby again.  **

When he finally got there, he saw Quistis, Headmaster Cid, and Xu already there.  Xu was the Headmaster's secretary.  She was also in charge of training new SeeDs and sending veteran SeeDs into battle.

He saw that she and Quistis were wearing the SeeD uniform.  **_If only I could wear that instead of this crappy cadet one…_**

            "Ah, good to see you again, Squall.  I don't believe you've ever met the Garden's secretary, Xu.  You are to refer to her as Secretary Xu for the duration of the mission, and indefinitely after the mission as well," said Quistis introducing the two strangers.

            "I'm pleased to meet you…Secretary Xu," Squall replied hesitantly.           

            "Ah, I have heard much about you, Squall.  Quistis tells me that you are a perfect student."

              **_…Whatever…_** "Let's get down to business please?  Why did you call me down here?"

            "I believe you know why you were called down here.  We will be sending you onto your Field Exam, which will determine whether you become a SeeD or not.  You shall be a part of a three-person team.  The team will consist of you, Seifer, and Zell."

            **_Zell?  Seifer?!  _**"Can I change my team please?  I doubt that being paired up with Seifer is the best way to go about this thing…"

            "Sorry," said Quistis, "The teams were set way before today, and there is nothing you, or anyone else for that matter, can do.  But look at the bright side.  At least you don't have a problem with this 'Zell' character.  I heard him described as 'lively'.  Maybe you can start a friendship."

            "I wouldn't really call it a problem.  And I wouldn't call him lively.  He's just…loud," answered Squall.

            When Squall finished talking, Quistis quietly laughed and called across the main hall, "Dincht!  Zell Dincht!"

            "Yeah, coming, coming!"

            Squall looked over in the direction the response came from and saw a 5'5" male with a crude tattoo spreading out on the left side of his face.  It vaguely reminded Squall of the gold patterns on the shoulders of the cadet uniforms, one of which Zell was also wearing.

            Not to his surprise, Zell was practicing his karate skills.  He punched at the air multiple times with his clenched fists and then somersaulted over to where Squall was standing.  "Hey, Squall.  Heard a lot about you," said Zell, wiping his hand against his pant leg and stretching it out towards Squall for a handshake.

            Squall looked from Zell's face to his outstretched hand and back.  There was an awkward silence which was broken when Squall finally decided on a course of action.  He crossed his arms, looked back at Quistis and asked, "When do we get started?"

            Zell's hand was left in the air.  Squall 'left him hanging.'  Zell frowned and turned around to continue sparring with his shadow.

            Quistis replied, "As soon as we find Seifer, we will be off."

            "…I'll find him," Squall volunteered, since he knew that no-one else was planning on going to look for him.

            Squall headed away from the main lobby toward one of the hallways that branch from it.  **_Not here…_**  Seifer was nowhere to be found.  He proceeded to search.  After a while he found Seifer sitting on a bench staring into space.  "Seifer, come on.  The test's starting."  Squall noticed that Seifer wasn't wearing his cadet uniform like he was supposed to.  **_Disobedient as always, are we?_**

            Seifer glanced at Squall and said absolutely nothing.  **_Whatever…  _**Squall walked away, heading back towards the main lobby.  

            When he got there, he told the group that he couldn't find Seifer even though he did.  Headmaster Cid volunteered to make an encouraging speech before the group departed to the Field Exam destination.  "Squall, Zell, and Seifer, wherever he may be…this is going to be your first real battle.  You must remember – do not be scared.  Don't lose your cool and I have every confidence that you will make it back and pass with flying colors.  Now…are you nervous?"  He looked at Zell.

            Zell responded, "A little, but I'll get over it by the time we get there…"

            Cid then asked, "Squall?  What about you…?"

            Squall slowly shook his head no and turned to Quistis.  "Who is going to be the captain of the team?"

            "What does it matter?  You are all on the same team, and you are all to function as one entity…why do you care who the captain is?"

            The group turned and started pacing towards the garage, and Squall repeated slowly, "…Who is the captain of our team?"

            "Seifer…", said Quistis in a whisper as she sped up pace towards the car.

*          *          *

            The group paced quietly through the garage toward the car headed to Balamb, the county right next to their garden; a county in which they would board a boat headed towards their final destination.  Seifer caught up to the group and they all sat in the 70's style car with a light blue tail and a dark brown nose.  One of the garden staff drove the vehicle while Seifer, Squall, Zell, Quistis, and Xu sat in the back. 

            Xu noticed Seifer as they opened the back door of the car, "Ah, Seifer.  How many times has it been now…?"  A thin smile spreads across her face.

            "You know me, I just _love _these exams." 

            The car started and began to move.  The group rode on in silence until Zell got bored.  "Squall, lemme see your gunblade."

            Squall didn't answer.  The anxiety has returned.

            "Come on man!!!  Just for one second!"  He was relentless in his effort to eye Squall's weapon.

            Squall still didn't answer.  He proceeded to stare at the floor and keep himself calm.

            "Tch…fine.  You be that way," said Zell, a little annoyed.  

            In a few minutes' time, Zell got up from his seat and started sparring his shadow in the spacious back of the car.  Seifer got annoyed from his karate which, to him, looked like a severe case of muscle spasm.

            "Zell, sit down.  You killed all of the flies in here just with the way you smell.  No point in swatting them now…chicken-wuss," said Seifer, amused at his own originality.

            "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!"  He was enraged at Seifer's comment.

            "What are you going to do about it?  Sit…down."

            "Shut up!  Seifer, you're all talk.  Get up, I dare you…"

            Seifer looked into Zell's eyes and let out a tormenting laugh.  He combed his hair back and proceeded to get up slowly with a smirk on his face, removing his gunblade from its holster.

            Quistis saw this.  _Dear god, they're going to slaughter each other before we get to the boat._

             "Seifer, leave Zell alone.  Zell, sit down please."

            "Tch…fine"  

            Seifer eased back into his seat, and Zell plopped down.  They looked at each other and Zell let his eyes drop.

            As thoughts raced through his head and his heart pumped ever faster the closer to Dollet they came, Squall played back the images of the day that had passed so quickly today; the duel with Seifer, the scar, the infirmary, the girl with the green shawl, Ifrit, Shiva.  

**_            The girl with the green shawl.  _He remembered the girl he saw while he was laying in the infirmary and decided to see if someone else knew who she was, "Instructor, who was that woman in a blue dress and green shawl that was at the infirmary this afternoon?"**

            "Hmm, that's funny…I don't recall seeing anyone except Dr. Kadowaki at the infirmary.  Why?  Is there something wrong?"

            Quistis refused to believe that Squall was showing interest in a girl.  

            "No.  Nevermind." 

            Seifer threw some more mud around, "Oh great, I have a chicken-wuss and a guy who just reached puberty on my team," and he chuckled.

*          *          *

            Once the bright yellow vehicle got to Balamb, the pack exited and began to walk toward the dock.  Zell whispered something in Xu's ear, and Xu nodded him off.  Zell strayed and entered a house on the left side of the road.

            Squall asked Xu, "Where is he going?  Aren't we supposed to stick together?"

            "He is going to say good-bye to his mom.  It'll only take around three minutes.  Relax," replied Xu.  

            "Zell's parents live here?"

            "Zell's _parent._ He never met his father.  Come to think of it…no-one has.  He lives with his mom right now.  No-one knows her real name, so we just call her Ma Dincht." 

            Squall realized that Xu didn't notice that Squall didn't call her secretary Xu.  But, she didn't do anything about it, so it wasn't too important.  He continued to walk.  

            As the group reached the dock, they heard the pounding footsteps of Zell as he forced himself to run faster until he caught up.  A veteran SeeD at the docks waved the students, the instructor and Xu through into their boat.  As the male SeeD was closing the door, Zell stumbled inside the boat and they all sat down to listen to the mission plan.

            Xu walked next to everyone and gave out maps of their current destination, Dollet. She then started her speech.  "Good evening, everyone.  Our client for this mission-slash-exam is the Dollet Dukedom Parliament.  In just a few minutes, we will be approaching their county, Dollet – a harbor town on the East continent.  The G-force, or the Galbadia Force, began the invasion of Dollet four hours ago.  Dollet called in for assistance approximately 3 hours after the beginning of the invasion, and Balamb Garden answered."  The map zoomed in on the space behind the city of Dollet.  "Anyway, the Dollet soldiers have lost control of the actual city shortly after the invasion has started and they retreated into the mountains behind the city boundaries to regroup.  

            "That is the current status.  This is the objective: we shall be dispatching four teams into Dollet to liberate it from the Galbadia Force.  One of those four teams is you.  You mustn't worry about the other teams, for two of those teams are veteran SeeDs whom will be supporting you.  The other team is also composed of students.  You are to enter Dollet and secure the Town Square."

            Zell was really excited by Xu's speech, "Wow, 'liberate Dollet'…sure sounds important."

            "Important?  I, for one, am being overwhelmed by boredom," Seifer pitched in.

            Xu finished off her speech, "Seifer, you are the captain of this unit.  If anything goes wrong, retreat.  Do you understand?"

            "Yeah, I understand.  I understood this the first time I took this exam, which was…3 years ago."

            "Well then, Seifer," said Quistis, "I wish you luck again."

            "Please, instructor, save those words for a poor student who deserves 'em," said Seifer coolly.

            "Ok," Quistis quieted down and then once again said, "I wish you luck Seifer."

            Everyone except Squall broke into a round of laughter and Seifer's cheeks turned a pinkish color.

            After a few minutes of racing across the ocean, Seifer commanded Squall to go see what was going on outside. 

**_            What a captain my unit has…_ Squall thought sarcastically, but went up top to check anyway.  When on top of the boat, he was able to see that after undocking, a set of other boats caught up to theirs composing a team of four boats and one boat manned with artillery in case anything was to go wrong.  He stared into the distance with squinted eyes, already seeing the shores of Dollet – his first battlefield.  He could here the faint sound of gunfire and explosions somewhere along the shoreline.  He took out a map that was handed to him by Xu inside the boat.  He lined it up to match the background and observed key structures and exits.  After he was satisfied, Squall rolled up the papers and shoved them in his right pant pocket.  ****_In a couple of seconds, we are going to be fighting on those shores…I hope we're prepared…_**

            Squall climbed the ladder back down into the boat and awaited landing.  As the boat skidded onto the rocky beach, all of its passengers were lurched forward and then back like on a chain.  The front of the boat opened exposing its metallic innards and the team of SeeDs-in-training.  They ran out with Seifer at the front.  

Seifer yelled, "Let's move out!", in a dramatic tone.  When Squall and Zell moved closer, he said, "I always wanted to say that," with a chuckle.

            The group ran off into the city, hearing the faint voice of Quistis wishing them luck.  As the squad ran through the paved streets of Dollet surrounded by tall, red-brick buildings, they encountered several Galbadian soldiers dressed in blue uniforms.  Squall, Zell, and Seifer easily brought them down one-by-one and proceeded towards the Town Square.  

             "Come on, you wimps.  The Central Square is up ahead."  Then, at the top of his lungs, he screamed, "Hey! All you Galbadian cowards out there! Come out and show your faces! Don't leave me hangin' now!"

            Zell stared at Seifer Almasy as he ran off towards the town square.  He raised his eyebrow and said, "What an idiot…"

            Once they reached the Central Square, a small prestigious square as the name implies, with a large fountain in the center, they fought off another Galbadian soldier, bringing him to his knees.  Seifer came up to him and grabbed him by the hair.  "Is there any more of your scum hiding here?!"

            When the soldier didn't answer, Seifer brought his gunblade over eye-level and got ready to strike.  Squall and Zell turned away in time to avoid seeing anything that they didn't want to see.  When they turned back, they saw the soldier lying on the floor lifeless, and Seifer standing close by looking down at him.

            Seifer turned, wiped off some blood that squirted onto his cape and said, "There may be more of them…scout the area!"

            Squall and Zell proceeded to check around the Square until they found three G-force soldiers hiding behind a car pile-up.  They disposed of the soldiers and headed back to report to their captain.  "I think that's all of them, captain," said Squall.

            "Well, then…we're on standby till the enemy shows its face," he sighed and continued, "Standby…how boring…"

*          *          *

            "What the _hell_?!  Why is nothing happening?!"  Zell was pacing back and forth with boredom.  He couldn't keep still anymore.  It wasn't in his nature to stay in one stop.

            The group was spread out on and around the fountain, bored beyond belief.  Half and hour passed before they came, and they were standing all this time.

            As the team stood there doing nothing but waiting, the silence was broken by an eerie sound from up on top of a cliff behind the Square.  The sound resembled that of a ghost taken from a horror movie – a moan.  The only difference was that this moan was obviously accomplished by metal scraping against metal.  "Sounds like something's happening," said Squall.  

            "Stupid Galbadian Soldiers…bring it on!!!"  Seifer yelled for Galbadian Soldiers.  "Hey, Galbadian Soldiers," he said in a sing-song voice, "Come out and show me what you got!!!  What are you waiting for?!"  Seifer swung his gunblade, as if intimidating an imaginary opponent.  

            The whole group listened for a response but there is only silence.  "Nothing…", said Squall.   

            "Wow…this is _so _boring…" said Zell in a tone like he just woke up.

            "Still keeping us waiting, eh?  I can't handle this anymore…" said Seifer.

            Then Squall barely grabbed Seifer's jacket and pulled him down behind the fountain just in time to avoid being seen by a Galbadian patrol.  It consisted of around a dozen soldiers, way too many for the three cadets to handle.  

"The enemy…", murmured Squall.

            The patrol, consisting of people all dressed in blue uniforms with devices on their heads that look like night-vision goggles, walked by surveying its surroundings, but somehow not managing to see Seifer, Squall, and Zell.

            "Hey, where the hell are they goin'?  And what's that building up there?!", asked Zell, pointing to a tower maybe 50 to 60 feet high, just outside the boundaries of the actual town of Dollet.

            Seifer replied, "…Our next destination…"

            "Wait a second, that's against orders!", said Zell.

            "Weren't you just complaining about how bored you are?"

            "Squall?", asked Zell for support.

            Squall didn't turn from the tower.  He thought about how lack of activity might affect his grade.  If he were to go up there, it might actually improve his grade.  It was worth a try.  "I respect the captain's decision…", answered Squall.

            Zell was thrown back by this surprise remark.  "So you're saying that you _want_ to go up there?"

            "If the captain wants to leave the post and disobey orders, then there is nothing I can do about it…Besides, with Seifer yapping his mouth so much, I feel sort of invincible…like I could take anybody on.  This would be a perfect opportunity to test my skills."

            Seifer was also surprised, "…Captain's decision?", he laid his hand on Squall's shoulder and chuckled, "You want to wreak some havoc too, don't you?" 

            Squall brushed Seifer's hand away, "Like I said, thanks to you, I feel invincible – like I can take anyone on, even if they do fight dirty - like you…"

            Seifer grinned.  "That's the spirit.  Trust me, some day you'll thank me!"

            Zell observed the behavior between the two rivals, "What the hell?  I thought you two didn't get along.  What happened, now you're all buddy-buddy…anyway, we have to stick to orders.  We can't just…leave whenever we want to."

            "Then you stay here.  I don't need any girl scouts on my team."

            "What did you say?!?!", Zell jabbed at Seifer but Seifer brushed him away with ease and chuckled.  

            "Zell, if you don't want to come along then just stay here," said Seifer with all seriousness.  He then ran off toward the road leading to the tall building up ahead…and Squall followed.  Zell dropped his hands, took a quick look around, and followed.

*          *          *

            Half-way up the dirt path towards the summit of the building, the squad ran into an injured Dollet soldier lying on the ground.  "Ahh!  Who are you?!  Are you Galbadian Soldiers?!"

            Squall tried to calm him down and said, "Take it easy, sir.  We are SeeDs dispatched from Balamb Garden sent to liberate Dollet from the G-Force."

            "Oh, thank God!  The Galbadians took over the communication tower not that long ago, killing many in the process, and they're holding it for all this time.  They don't even know the danger that lives in that tower.  That was a monster's layer for as long as I can remember…"

            "We were sent here to liberate Dollet and we'll fulfill that objective no matter what.  We're going to go liberate that tower from the G-force, have no doubt.  Then, we will come back for you."  **_A communication tower?_****_  What could they want with a communication tower?  Did they invade Dollet just for that?  _**

****Squall found that hard to believe since radio signals have been jammed for seventeen years and counting.  No one knew why but a couple of days after the Sorceress War had ended, radios and televisions everywhere turned snowy and then completely went out.  

            The Sorceress War was a war that took place twenty years ago.  It all started because of a power-hungry woman named Adel.  She fought the entire world including Balamb, Galbadia, and another country called Esthar, virtually dragging the earth into world war.  Adel won over Galbadia and corrupted it for her own personal use, putting the armies under her command.  

            When this happened, Balamb launched a full-scale attack against both Adel and Galbadia.  Esthar watched from a distance as Balamb's forces were obliterated with ease under the power of Adel's iron fist until it realized that it was the final victim-to-be.  As the Galbadian forces manned their boats and aircraft to head for the Western Continent, Esthar was preparing its high-technology weapons to destroy the incoming threat.  When Adel arrived at Esthar, yet another major battle took place, and Esthar sadly lost.

            A year into the war, Adel controlled two of the major earth powers, and obliterated another.  She ruled all.  No-one knows the truth as to how Esthar managed to overthrow her, but folk-lore has it that three years into the war and two years into the "Reign of Adel", they contained her in a capsule that was hidden from all humanity.  They froze her, isolated her, and sound-proofed the walls so that she would cause no more harm.  When Galbadia and Balamb made their return to normalcy, researchers, engineers, architects and many others began trying to figure out the cause of this paranormal activity, but apparently all in vain. 

            Just when Squall was about to walk off, he heard the Dollet soldier let out a yelp and he sees that something is pulling him into the bush that he was resting on.

            "AHH!!!  HELP!!!"  

            "What the hell?" Even though Squall was confused, he ran back to the Dollet Soldier and pulled him out.  Once the Dollet Soldier was out of the bush, Squall was left staring another creature straight in the face.  This creature's face resembled that of a snake, but it was much larger and didn't have the flickering tongue.  It had green, scaly skin and matching green eyes.  The creature pushed Squall back and slithered out of the bush.  Now that Squall could see the whole creature, he realized it to be an Anacondaur.  **_That would explain the snake-like appearance._**  Come to think of it, Squall noticed that the only difference between it and a snake are the two long arms stretching out from its sides.  At the end of these arms, there are two claws that are around 3" long jutting out.  These claws could easily rip a man to shreds if caught unwary.  All of its other features resembled that of a snake – from the hooded neck, to the long, slimy tail.  The Anacondaur stared Squall in the face.   

            Seifer was still hungry for more action, "Damn, I hope that this poor monstrosity puts up more of a fight than those G-Force retards!"

            And with those words, the fight commenced…

*          *          *

            The Anacondaur, being quicker than its human opponents, started the battle off.  It jumped onto Zell and twisted its long body around his.  Before he knew it, Zell could feel the moist earth on his knees as he was lowered to the floor by the Anacondaur, fading out of existence.  Squall tried to help Zell by hacking at the monster's body but his gunblade simply bounced off of its hard carapace.  Seifer stood a couple of feet from the Anacondaur trying to decide whether he should help or not.

            As Zell was losing consciousness, he coughed up a few words, "…Magic…fire magic…weakness…"

            Squall understood right away what Zell wanted and he stretched his hand out in front of his body.  The ground underneath Zell and his constrictor grew hotter and hotter, and it became noticeably red.  **_Zell…this might hurt a little…_**  Suddenly, the ground cracked and split and hot magma came pouring out.  The Anacondaur, surprised by the molten rock underneath its reptilian body, loosened its grasp on Zell, giving Zell a chance to break free.  Zell punched the Anacondaur in what he thought was the torso, making it fall to the floor, and then he jumped out of the forming puddle of lava, only scathing the soles of his shoes a bit.  The monster was then engulfed in the hellish fire that was coming out from within the earth.  When Squall replaced his hand on his gunblade, the fire disappeared and the only thing left was the Anacondaur lying on the ground, its green skin now charred black.  

            Seifer saw that it was still wriggling around on the floor so he came up to it to finish it off.  He was just about ready to stab at it when it sprayed something from its mouth that reminded the group of jade-tinted saliva.  He ducked just in time for it to miss him but the saliva hit Squall directly in the eyes.  Seifer now didn't hesitate to stab the Anacondaur in its abdomen causing it to let out a scream caused by excruciating pain.  With this, Seifer ended the battle and then turned to see what damage the Anacondaur had done.

            Squall was hit directly in the eyes by some of the Anacondaur's poison.  He was involuntarily lowered to the floor by the tormenting pain, and he couldn't get up.  **_Aaahhh!!!  _**Squall remembered packing a couple of potions and antidotes for the field exam, just in case things like this were to happen.  Through his screams, he managed to tell Zell to take out an antidote from within Squall's left jacket pocket.  Zell fished around until he found it and he then opened the vial and dripped the antidote onto Squall's eyes.  The poison quickly evaporated, revealing squinted balls of red.   ****

            Squall's vision began to clear right away.  He stood up and thanked Zell.

            The group turned around to see what happened to the Dollet Soldier.  They came up to him and Squall tried to shake him from what looked like a deep sleep.  When the soldier didn't wake up, Squall knew what happened.

"He's dead.  Let's go," said Seifer.  When Squall pulled him out of the bush, it was too late.  The Anacondaur had already bitten the soldier in the leg, releasing a deadly toxin into his body.  Within minutes, the soldier's life was over. 

            "Monsters, huh?", said Squall. 

            "Well, that sucks," replied Zell.

            "Don't worry.  More fun for us," said Seifer.

            "Let's go," encouraged Squall.

            As the team approached a cliff facing the tower the tower, they stopped and kneeled down when they see two G-force soldiers guarding it.  As they examined the tower, they noticed the same patrol that almost spotted them at the Central Square come up to the guards.  A conversation ensued.

            The first G-force guard told the leader of the patrol, "The generators are up and running, sir."

            The second guard added, "There have been no problems with the backups."

            Then, another guard ran through the open door from within the tower in between the two guards and said, "Exchange process ready to begin."

            Back on the hilltop, Zell was in a state of confusion, "Exchange process?  What the hell are they doing?"

            "Who cares?"  Seifer was fixing his right hand glove.

            The leader of the patrol responded, "Excellent."

            Seifer turned to Squall, "This must be your first real battle.  You scared?"

            Squall glanced at Seifer, and then turned back to the tower, examining it closely.

            Seifer continued to talk, "The way I see it, everything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  I'm not scared of anything.  With every battle I win, I come closer to fulfilling my dream."

            Squall asked, "Your dream?"

            "…Yeah.  Don't you have your own dream?"

            "If you don't mind, I'm going to pass on that subject."

            Zell decided to talk, "Yo, lemme in on this.  What are you talking about?"

            Seifer responded angrily, "Mind your own damn business, chicken-wuss."

            Zell punched Seifer in the shoulder, "…Frickin' Hell!"

            Seifer chuckled at Zell, "What's the matter, Zell, you trying to catch the flies you missed in the car now?"

            And with that, Seifer jumped down from the cliff that the team was hiding on and proceeded to walk towards the communication tower.

            Zell whispered to himself, "Damn him…"

            After a couple of seconds, the two guys heard a voice from behind them.  "There you are!"

            They turned around just in time to see a 5'1" girl falling down the side of the cliff.  She landed a couple of paces from Squall and she winked at him.  Squall realized that it was the same girl that bumped into him earlier today.  "Are you Squad B?"

            Squall nodded yes.  The girl then said, "My name is Selphie, a student from Squad C.  I came here as a messenger.  Seifer Almasy is your captain, right?  Where is he?'  Selphie glimpsed at Squall and a look of remembrance came onto her face, "Hey, I know you!  Sorry for acting spoiled, by the way."

            Squall nodded her off.

            From the distance, they heard Seifer shout, "Some day, Squall, I'm gonna tell you about my ROMANTIC dream!"

            Selphie looked at him and said, "Boy, this job sure is tough.  Well, let's get going?"

            Now that Seifer had been replaced by the messenger girl, the three moved on towards the Communication tower.  

            As they walked up to the communication tower, they heard yelling coming from the inside.  They placed their backs against the wall of the tower and waited.  Soon, they saw three Galbadian soldiers run out.  Seifer was behind then, swinging his gunblade crazily.  When the G-force soldiers ran out, he whispered, "…Cowards," and then turned back and the door closed behind him.  

            Selphie whined and said, "Hey, the captain is getting away!!!  Let's go after him…"

            They walked inside and examined their new surroundings.  The tower may have looked neat from outside but inside, there were nothing but cobwebs and spiders everywhere.  Seifer was nowhere to be seen.  Squall noticed an elevator coming down from the top of the tower.  **_Maybe Seifer went up there…_**  He told his squad to get on the elevator and they did so.  He flipped a switch and the elevator began to creak and ride up to the top of the tower.

            Selphie laughed and said, "I love elevators!  They're so fun!"

*          *          *

****

            While the group was making its way towards the tower, two Galbadian soldiers were making some repairs on top of it.  These two soldiers go by the names of Biggs and Wedge, Biggs being a Major, and Wedge being a Sergeant.

            Biggs, being of higher rank, is allowed to use armor far beyond the reach of regular soldiers.  He uses an armor weighing in at 75 pounds, weighing him down constantly.  It is the model TM-358 armor.  Regular soldiers wear armor that weighs just about as much as a regular trench coat – from around 10-15 pounds.  This is the model TM-178 armor.  Differences are clearly visible, such as the TM-358 armor is red, and shows off huge plates of armor all over the body, while the TM-178 is blue, and consists mainly of tights and a few pieces of armor on the arms and legs.  The torso is completely unprotected.  The only constant between the two uniforms are the "night-vision goggles" found on the helmets. 

            As Biggs sat next to the shiny, metallic console that controlled the tower's main generators and motors, Wedge came up to him and gave him a salute.  "Major Biggs, there have been multiple reports of a gargoyle-like shadow on the roof, sir."

            Biggs grumbled and said, "…What?!  Be quiet, I'm busy!", he struggled with the tools and then added, "What's with these crappy old tools?"  He fished for a wrench in the handbag lying next to him and turned back to the console, "This goes there…and…and…why do I get stuck making all of these repairs?  It's not fair!!!"

            Wedge saw the distress Biggs was in, and he decided to leave him alone for both their sakes, "I'm gonna go check around to see if there really are any monsters here…"

            In a few moments Biggs finished his job, "This goes here, and that goes there, and…it's finally complete!"

            At that same moment, the lift on which Squall's party was riding came to a stop next to Biggs.  They ran off of the platform and began to feel the tower vibrate.  The loud grinding of motors and the grinding of metal on metal was very loud.  From inside the tower, a huge cylinder column rose up into the air at a remarkable speed and tilted sideways to a 45o angle.  The column then opened up into a Satellite Dish and the lights that lined the outside of it began to glow a bright green.  

            After witnessing the short show of lights and sound, Squall turned back to Biggs who was still lying on the floor, "Hey!  What do you think you're doing?!"

            "I ask that same question of you, boy!  Hey, wait a second…what happened to all of the guards downstairs…?  Don't worry, I'll take care of you nice and good…," he chuckled, "…Wedge…Wedge?", when his trusty partner didn't answer, Biggs grew hesitant.  "Well…my job is done here, so," he cleared his throat, "I guess…I'm gonna…be leaving now…," all the while pacing towards the lift.  

            At the same moment he was about to get on the platform, the elevator slid down, almost causing him to fall.  There was a slight awkward silence in which Biggs reloaded his gun and when the lift came back up, the Squad B captain was the person riding it.  He sliced at Biggs hand, causing a piece of his armor to fall off.  "Sorry to crash your party," said Seifer in his naturally intimidating tone.  But before anyone could say another word, Wedge came running from around the side of the tower with an 8' flying monster on his tail. The monster looked like a strange mix between a bird and a wasp, with a purple coloration.  "AAAHHH!!!"

            With a simple waft from its mouth, it blew Biggs and Wedge off of the side of the building.

            As it turned back to the dumbfounded fighters, their bodies clenched, awaiting the monster's next move.  The monster, an Elvoret as Squall knew from his classes, snarled and let out another sharp breath carrying Selphie, the lighter of the group, over the side of the tower and to the same peril that claimed Biggs and Wedge, leaving only Zell, Squall, and Seifer to fight.   

            "Be careful this time, you hear?", said Squall caringly to Zell.

            Zell nodded and defiantly began to run at the Elvoret anyway showing clearly that Squall's advice had fallen on deaf ears.

*          *          *

            As Zell picked up pace toward the Elvoret, he picked up the wrench Biggs left behind as well in an effort to acquire some sort of missile projectile to throw at the monster.  As Zell swung his arm behind his body to throw the projectile he noticed that Squall had picked up pace and joined in the sprint towards Elvoret.  Seifer, on the other hand, ran around the other side of the tower in an effort to attack the creature from front and back – a "Pincer Attack."  Zell threw the wrench from afar at an early attempt to confuse and maybe even distract the Elvoret and it bounced off of its veiny right wing. 

            Elvoret glanced at its wing to figure out whether to react or laugh, but as it turned back, it saw an angry Zell already in the air in front of its face with his closed fists resting at the ends of outstretched arms.  The monster lifted itself up into the air with ease allowing Zell to punch the air and tumble back down to the ground, rolling to the edge of the tower with no signs of slowing down.

            As Squall raised his gunblade over his head to take a stab at Elvoret, the monster raised itself even higher so that the gunblade missed and connected with one of its own.  Seifer had ran around the other side of the tower and taken a go at Elvoret at the same time as Squall but unfortunately, he missed.  Seifer growled at Squall – something about, "You idiot!  I had it!  Why did you have to get in the way?" – but Squall didn't have the time for petty insults.  He saw that Zell was about to fall over the side of the tower.  Squall ran over to where his team-mate was and stuck out his hand, "ZELL!  Take my hand!", but Zell only glanced at Squall with a terrified look in what seemed to be slow-motion and fell over.  Squall was left on his knees, eyeing where Zell just lay with an open mouth.  In a split-second, Squall let out a roaring scream and lunged forward for Zell.  He ran to the end of the tower and fell on his torso reaching out for Zell, hoping that he was there.  **_Please, God!  Let him reach my hand!  That's all I ask – just let him get my hand…_  **

            Squall propelled his blind hand forward over the brink of death and grabbed Zell by the arm.  "Zell, don't let go.  It's a long way down," said Squall with slight happiness in his voice.  Zell let out a nervous chuckle and pulled himself up, knowing that what was up there was not nearly as bad as what was under him…

            As Squall pulled Zell up, a strange thought came to his head.  **_Why didn't the Elvoret attack us?  It had a huge opportunity to throw in some winning moves just now…hmm…  _**As he turned around, he saw that Seifer was standing in-between him and the monster swinging his gunblade like a madman to keep it up in the air, his cape billowing in the wind Elvoret's wings produced.  

            Without warning, Squall yelled to Seifer, "Get back!!!  Me and Zell are going to light it up."  He then turned to Zell, "You ready?"

            Zell nodded his head even though he was still trying to comprehend what decision Squall had just reached without informing him.  When Squall raised his hand toward the sky and closed his eyes, Zell understood.  He did the same and the sky began to darken.  A faint drizzle began and, not surprisingly, only coated Elvoret.  The monster was enveloped in a white orb of light that threw Seifer back and away from the creature.  The monster scratched at the orb, but to no avail.  He was trapped inside until…further notice.  

            From the smoldering sky came a thunderbolt – a bright yellow thunderbolt that sliced the air on the way toward Elvoret's body.  As the thunderbolt hit the orb, time appeared to be at a virtual stand-still.  After several long moments, Squall set of a chain of events with just a slight twitch of his hand.  The orb began to brighten until the trio could not directly look at it anymore.  Squall and Zell's eyes remained closed while Seifer shielded his with his gunblade.  The group heard a sound so high, so shrill, that it made them wince.  It was the sound of the Elvoret in pain.  It was the sound of Elvoret being sizzled.  _It is the sound of Elvoret being Barbequed,_thought Seifer.

            After a couple of minutes, Squall and Zell found that they have done what they set out to do and they release the grip on nature that they had previously had.  The white orb automatically disappeared and Elvoret fell to the ground in a black, deformed crisp.  Almost immediately after it fell, its body began to disintegrate from the wind that started to pick up.  In a few minutes there was no trace that a creature called "Elvoret" ever lived on the Dollet Communication Tower.

*          *          *

            **_Selphie!!!_  Squall remembered about the messenger and ran over to the side of the tower from which Selphie fell.  Surprisingly, she was hanging from one of the metal protrusions from the wall and Squall gave her a hand to pull her up.  He heard Seifer speak up, "Wow, chicken-wuss, even a girl could find something to hang from…you're an embarrassment."**

            This time, Zell didn't reply.  He coolly showed Seifer a few warm gestures with his hand and ran over to help Selphie to her feet, "Are you okay?"

            "Yeah, I think so," Selphie responded, "Oh, that reminds me – I still haven't given you the message."  She limped over to Seifer and said, "Are you the Squad B captain – Seifer Almasy?"

            "Yeah, what of it?"

            "Seifer, I am a messenger from Squad C and I come with a message telling all SeeDs and SeeDs in training to withdraw." 

            "Withdraw?!", replied Seifer, "But the enemies still around!!!"

            "Captain, I don't make these requests, I just deliver them.  You and your squad have to be at the shore at 1900 hours."

            "Oh, alright, but I still don't under-", Seifer was interrupted by Squall.

             "When did you say we have to be at the shore?"

            Selphie replied, "1900 hours."

            Zell pitched in, "1900 hours?!  But that's in less than 30 minutes!!!"

            All the while, Seifer was pacing towards the elevator, "…Thirty minutes," as he activated the elevator, "You guys better run!"  And with those words, the elevator went down.  

            Zell yelled at Seifer, "HEY!!!  Wait for us!!!  Damn, who does he think he is?!"

            In half a minute the elevator came back up, awaiting the next group of passengers.

            Squall, also annoyed by Seifer, said, "Why don't you go ahead and ask him?"

*          *          *

            Somewhere in the plains behind the Dollet Communication Tower lay Biggs, his leg crippled, his arms barely moving.  He had taken quite a beating falling down from the tower at 50 ft.  

            When he finally came to, he took a remote control out of his left pant pocket and pressed the activation switch.  He then began to talk into the microphone, "Those... little twerps...are the targets...now...go and...destroy them!  They know too much, don't let them...leave…ALIVE!" he said, falling over on his side.

*          *          *

            The group rode the elevator down all the while listening to Zell bad-mouth Seifer.  The elevator reached the bottom floor holding three poised fighters ready to exchange blows with oncoming soldiers but to their surprise, there was no-one left to fight.  All of the soldiers evacuated, apparently.  The group made their way toward the nine-foot-high automatic door as fast as they could.  They wanted to finish their test as soon as possible so they strode out of the door and were ready to run.  Zell turned to Squall, who has stopped in his tracks and was listening to the slightest sound.  He asked, "Squall?  Come on, let's hurry, we don't want to miss the boat…Squall?"

            Squall looked at Zell and put his finger to his mouth, telling him to keep quiet.  He heard a clanking sound somewhere in the distance like someone was banging a couple of metal rods on a steel beam.  He turned in all directions, searching for the enemy, but he didn't see anything.  But then he looked up.  He saw atop the now extended satellite dish a metal creature that was "looking" straight down at him.  **_What the hell is that?!  _The creature continued to move around on the dish as if it was its very own home, but then it simply let go and began to free-fall.  Squall quickly ducked out of the way when he saw that the metal creature was about to fall on him.  He ran and took cover behind a huge boulder along side Zell and Selphie.  **

            When the creature landed with a loud thump and a plume of dust around it Squall was finally close enough to analyze its features.  It was apparently a giant metallic spider, complete with eight metal legs that resembled the spare cylinders of a car, pumping up and down as the spider moved.  Atop the head of this spider was one red glass eye that followed the SeeDs-in-training no matter which way they moved.  When Squall looked even closer at the Spider's metal side, he saw a couple of letters printed on it – "X-ATMO92 : Galbadia Military"

            Squall knew right away that this was yet another creation of war made by the G-Force.  But what he didn't understand was why such a complex, and probably costly,  machine was deployed here…but that wasn't the point now, after all, he was being attacked by a giant metallic spider, perhaps man-eating.

            Squall then heard Zell's voice as he continued to stare at the spider, "Squall…what do we do?  Should we run?"

            Squall turned to look at him and he saw his face.  Zell was obviously scared of the metallic creature and he wasn't afraid of showing it.  Squall nodded and the group slowly turned and changed their pace to a flat-out run.  

            With every step Squall heard the X-ATMO92 behind them gaining speed as the cylinder legs pumped.  He heard the grinding of the metal hinges and the cracking and splitting of the paved ground as the machine's razor sharp clawed legs dug into it.  He ran faster.  When he got to the Central Square, he saw a white shape vanish around the bend.  **_Seifer!  _He turned to look at the spider's position, but he saw nothing.  Even though he heard the grinding metal, the machine was no-where in sight.  He turned to run but then, from the other side of tall buildings lining the street, he saw the X-ATMO92's glass eye poke out from one of the roofs.  ****_It tricked us!_**

****Now that the enemy was in front of them blocking the way to the boat, they had no choice but to fight it.  He heard Selphie's whimpering in the background.  Squall pulled his gunblade from its holster on his right hip, and prepared for battle.

*          *          *

            Apparently, the spider didn't know that Squall saw it, because it didn't move at all.  It stood, or crouched, on top of the roof watching…waiting.  Waiting for the right time to jump and destroy the group once and for all.  But Squall had an idea.  He thought about the weakness that the spider had and what he could do to use it to his advantage.  **_Since it's a machine, I could hit it with a bolt of lightning…but judging by its size, it'll probably just get up and chase us.  _**Then it hit him – back when he was in class just a couple of days ago, he saw a glowing circle of light floating outside of the classroom.  He made an excuse to go to the bathroom so that he could get out of class and it succeeded. 

             When he was outside, he saw that the luminous ball of light was in fact a stray Guardian Force.  He claimed it and gained the knowledge of its name and its history.  The GF's name was Quezecotl – a lightning spirit.  It too lived in another dimension and came to the human dimension very rarely.  That is why Squall was later very surprised when he saw it outside of class. 

            Squall turned to Zell, whose body was tense, and whispered, "When I give you the signal, you run behind that car pile-up that we passed around half a block back, ok?"

            Zell's blank face turned to Squall and he nodded.  Then he turned to Selphie and passed the message on.

            Squall closed his eyes and began to concentrate; he was calling Quezecotl.  The sky once again began to smolder just like on top of the communication tower, and the sharp sound of thunder could be heard in the background.  Swiftly, a creature with a body resembling that of an eagle flew down and stared at the spider.  The machine didn't even look up at the fowl; it continued to stare at Squall, whose eyes were now open, awaiting the bird's next move.  Quezecotl spread its wings and it was as if the thunder in the background was amplified by them.  The wingspan was nearly 25 feet making the bird a creature to be feared.  From the head of the bird, which didn't have any features on it – no nose, eyes, mouth, ears – came a scream that was even louder than the lightning.  

            Squall looked from the bird to the spider, hoping to see what will happen next.  The next events seemed to happen in slow-motion because Squall couldn't imagine it happening in real-time.  The spider backed up on the roof, and then began to pound its sharp feet as it accelerated toward the edge.  **_It's going to jump!  _**The spider flung itself off of the roof of the building, still not even concentrating on Quezecotl.  The bird saw this and darted toward the spider's back.  It landed on top of the spider and a giant thunderbolt from the sky hit its outstretched wings.  The thunderbolt apparently traveled through the bird and down into the spider, for Squall saw the red, pulsating eye grow brighter and brighter.

            Squall turned his body to the place where the rest of his group was standing, but he found that they were already running back without waiting for a signal.  He forgave them and turned to follow them.  When he was halfway back to the pileup, he turned his head in time to see the spider fall into a corner café on the side of the Central Square nearest them.

            Squall yelled to the rest of the group to stop in their tracks because the machine was down.  Zell and Selphie walked back to Squall and then they turned to head back to the beach.  But before they began to walk, Squall asked Zell how much time they had left.  **_Lucky that Zell has a watch…_  **

            Zell responds to Squall, "A little bit more than four minutes," with a sorrow look on his face, "I don't think we're going to make it."

            "Listen to me – we _are_ going to make it…now let's go."  Squall began to run.  Behind him, the rest of the team pick up pace to a run as well.  As they made their way past the exoskeleton of the X-ATMO92, they saw that it was still wriggling around.  But they didn't have time for it right now.  They had to get back.  They ran past and then they heard the very familiar noise of the pumping cylinders the spider had for legs.  The spider was up and chasing them again.  **_What the hell?!  How could it still be moving?!  _They ran around the same bend Seifer ran around not too long ago.  Squall glanced back and saw that even thought the exoskeleton of the machine was heavily charred, it was still steadily picking up pace.  **

            As the group crossed the imaginary boundary between Dollet and Dollet beach, Squall stumbled into the sand. ****He rolled to soften the impact and got back up to continue the run.  As the spider-machine crossed the boundary, it also fell, head first, into the sand.  But, it got up after a few seconds and proceeded to chase Squall.  He looked at the Balamb boat awaiting them, and he saw that Selphie and Zell were already on it.  

            He heard Zell's scream, "COME ON!!!"

            Selphie was on the verge of tears.  

            Squall was tired and his legs were burning from the load on them but he continued to run.  The spider was a little more than 7 feet behind him.  He looked at the boat again and he saw it start to pick up speed as it traveled into the water.  **_Are they really leaving?  _**Squall was about to jump onto the boat, when he unexpectedly tripped on a rock jutting out of the sand.  Behind him, the X-ATMO92's sharp arms snapped at the air, almost cleaving Squall's legs clean off.  He was thrown into the water narrowly missing the metallic arms, and now he truly wasn't sure if he was going to make it.

*          *          *

            As Squall belly-flopped into the water, he swam toward the boat with remarkable speed.  It was only a few inches away, but it seemed like miles.  He stretched out his hand and missed.  He stretched out his other hand and missed again.  **_Damn it!  _He relaxed his body and tried to grasp what was to become of him.  He turned back and he saw the metal spider almost on top of him, with its legs raised.  ****_No!  I won't give up now…not when I've come this far.  _In a last and final attempt to save himself, he threw his body forward and grabbed the back of the boat with one hand, fingers already rapidly sliding off.  Zell ducked down, grabbed his gloved hands and pulled Squall up.  He turned around to see the spider stunned, being jerked back and forth as if on a rope.  Then he heard the gunfire from atop the boat.  He ran up the staircase now completely soaked, only to see his favorite instructor manning the machine gun turret which was built into the top of the boat.  He came next to her and he saw her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.**

            He looked at her target the spider, which was desperately trying to get up but couldn't.  Quistis continued to shoot the machine until the glowing red light on top of its head faltered and finally went out.  She released the trigger and leaned back quietly sobbing.  Squall stood there a moment, watching the metal corpse.  Then he turned back to Quistis.

            "What's wrong, instructor?"

            "Nothing, Squall.  Nothing at all…go back into the boat, I'll be in soon."

            Squall turned to go and then he heard Quistis whisper, "I'm glad you're okay, Squall…"

            Squall hesitated but then went down the stairwell anyway.  

            Inside, Squall walked past Seifer sitting on one of the seats with his legs open and his arms on the seat, looking completely relaxed, "Ah, so there you are.  Did ya have fun?"

            Squall walked by holding his rage inside. Selphie on the other hand, came up to him and slapped his face.  He was thrown aback by this move but then he came to his senses, enraged.  Before he could do anything, Zell jabbed him in the face and he fell down into his chair, seemingly unconscious.  He then turned to Selphie and they exchange a high-five.  Squall sat down and looked back at retreating Dollet beach through the window as it slowly faded into the background.  **_…One hell of a test…_**


	6. Candidates Return

**Candidates Return**

          Upon their arrival at Balamb, they were welcomed by the same veteran SeeD that have seen them depart.  "Congratulations on making it back, everyone."

            Everyone nodded as they passed the SeeD.  Seifer was out first, now awake.  Raijin and Fujin were there to greet him.  Fujin asks, "SAFE?"

            Over the many years that Squall knew Fujin, he began to realize that she didn't talk normally.  She either talked differently because she couldn't talk any other way or because she wanted to.  Squall believed it was the latter of the two.  She used very few words in her sentences and spoke in an abnormally loud voice.  He believed that she talked this way to make sure everyone heard her.

            Seifer responded with a nod of his head and a smirk on his face, "Was there ever any doubt?"

            "Yo man, we were worried, ya know?"  Raijin said.  "So how'd it go?  Did ya have fun?"

            Seifer turned to him, "Jeez, being a captain isn't easy.  It seems as if everyone _tries to get in your way," and the disciplinary committee walked off laughing and talking.  Behind him, Squall heard Zell curse under his breath._

            He turned around to wait for the rest of the group and then turned to Xu as she started talking, "Well, congratulations, everyone!  You all made it back and now I wish you the best of luck," when Squall walked off, she turned back to Quistis, "Gee, I wonder what was so important for the Balamb Force to evacuate…"

            Squall walked out of the harbor area into the parking lot with Zell, walking at a steady pace towards the car which they used to drive to Balamb.  Squall was looking down at the ground as he walked, still a tad bit shaken by the exam, when he heard Zell's shouts in his ear.  "HEY!!!  Well, there goes Mr. Ego…"  Squall looked up just in time to see their car speeding down the road out of town.  **_They took the car!   _He held Zell back from running and said, "We might as well walk it."**

            Zell looked at him and groaned, "Oh man!  My legs are sore as it is…"

            Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Xu walked through the streets of Balamb, greeted by stares and gawks at the uniforms that they are wearing on such a hot day.  Squall realizes that he is actually sweating.  **_Wow, it really is pretty hot today…_**

            On the way out of the town, Zell walked down a couple of steps into a house below street level.  In the corridor, Squall saw him talking to an elderly woman, perhaps fifty.  **_That must be his mother…_  Zell's mother looked like a typical elderly woman.  She wore an apron most of the time and she walked around in a light robe of the color baby-blue.  Atop her head, she wore nothing more than a mere hair net to keep her long hair, turned white with age, out of her face.  She was a bit plump and nothing on her body except her white hair hinted towards her age.       **

Zell hugged his mother and ran out of the corridor, joining up with the rest of the group to head back to Balamb Garden.

            The road back to Balamb was quiet as the group paced along it.  It was the same type of road that led to the Fire Cavern.  Squall noticed that everyone except Xu and Quistis were sweating.  He thought that it was because of they were wearing skirts while everyone else was wearing pants.****Random thoughts continued to pop into his head until he realized that they are at the gate of Balamb Garden.  He felt his body begin to pump adrenaline as he thought of his chances of getting into SeeD.  He knew they were slim, but he wouldn't dare give up hope now.  When they walked into the gate, Zell stretched his arms and legs and patted Squall on the back, "We're finally back!"

"Yeah, my legs are killing me!"  Said Selphie as she leaned down and rubbed her red legs.  They were obviously in pain.

            "I guess that we wait for the test results now…well, see you later," Zell said, "and good luck, man."

            Quistis and Xu wished them all luck at the same time and Squall began to walk towards his dormitory.  He stopped abruptly, though, and decided to take the long way to clear his head.

*          *          *

            As Squall took the long way to his dorm – through the main hall, then loop around towards the quad and walk through the back door of that – he thought of nothing except how he could have done things better on the exam.  **_If I had destroyed that Galbadian Spider, I would have surely gotten a better grade…_**  He sighed and then thought **_what am I saying – I don't even know what grade I got and I'm already blaming myself for practically failing.  _**

            As he walked past the main hall, he saw Quistis, Xu, and Headmaster Cid already there.  He listened to the conversation from afar and the three didn't even notice him.  

            Xu said, "Mission complete!  I think we did a pretty good job, don't you?"

            "Yes, we did do a good job," said Quistis, "although it was unfortunate that we didn't realize that the Galbadians' main cause was acquiring the abandoned communication tower."

            "A couple of minutes earlier, we have received word from the Dollet Dukedom," replied the headmaster, "that the Galbadians agreed to withdraw under one condition – that the tower remain operational and repairs remain undisturbed."  Cid knew that this statement would raise some eyebrows; that was his first reaction as well.

            Xu and Quistis exchanged looks and Xu responded, "Well, at least the ruckus is over and the G-force is out of there," she then joked, "but, we could've made more money if they stayed."

            The joke signified that nothing else of importance was going to be said, so Squall went on his way.  Half-way to the quad, he saw Seifer resting on a bench.  Seifer turned to him, "Did you hear about the communication tower in Dollet?"  Squall nodded.  Seifer got up clearly frustrated, "We would have been heroes – _heroes – if it weren't for that pointless withdraw order…"  _

            **_Yeah?  Well, you were in no hurry to stay once you heard about it…_**

            Behind him, Squall heard tapping footsteps and then Quistis's voice, "Oh, Seifer, get real – you were only looking for a fight, nothing more."  

            "My dear instructor, those are some rather cruel words for an aspiring student like me," Seifer sighed, "Never mind, miss.  A _mediocre _instructor like you couldn't possibly understand."  Seifer, choosing his words carefully for the previous statement, knew Quistis's weakness - she despised being ordinary or normal.  She wanted to be above others – to be better, and calling her mediocre did more damage than any petty insult could have ever done.  Seifer's words paid off as Quistis was thrown back, speechless, and Xu stepped up to defend her.

            "Seifer, don't be so full of yourself – you are officially taking full responsibility for leaving the designated area, and being a complete pain in the ass for all of us."

            "Isn't the captain's duty to take the best possible course of action as he sees fit?"  

            "Oh, be quiet," replied Xu, "You'll never be a SeeD, and calling yourself a captain is a _joke." _

            Seifer glared at her and then slowly sat down, his eyes never leaving hers.  Xu turned around and walked off but Quistis was frozen in her tracks gawking at Seifer.  Headmaster Cid walked up behind her and whispered something in her ear, making her apparently feel better so that she could walk off in the same direction Xu went.  Then Headmaster Cid began to talk to Seifer.

            "Seifer, I heard about what happened, and you shall be disciplined properly for your irresponsible behavior out there today.  You must understand that you have to follow orders _exactly _in combat.  The slightest mistake can prove enough to eliminate any chances of victory," then on a lighter note, his face not as tense, Headmaster Cid continued, "But, I am not entirely without sympathy for you.  I mean, I don't want my students trained to be machines," Cid then noticed Squall who was standing there, listening to the whole conversation, "Oh Squall, I didn't notice you there, how are y-"

            The Headmaster was cut off by one of the garden staff employees, who had soundlessly appeared behind him, "Headmaster, you have some business in your office, what with all of the issues at hand here today…"

            Cid turned from the employee, who was stereotypically dressed in purple with a yellow mask atop his head, to Squall, and said, "Sorry I can't talk more, but I wish you luck, just like all the rest!"  He then turned away to follow the garden staff up to his office.  Squall decided that it was too late to nod in acknowledgement, so he also turned away to head in the other direction, leaving Seifer alone.

            Half way from the Quad to his dorm, Squall heard an announcement ring through the garden, "All students who participated in today's field exam, report to the second floor hallway.  I repeat – all students who took part in the field exam today, report to the second floor hallway."  This was definitely not the highlight of Squall's day, seeing that the only elevator that leads up to the second floor hallway was back in the main hall.  Squall turned around lamely and proceeded to walk back to the main hall, noticing along the way that Seifer was not sitting at the bench where the argument recently took place.  **_Whatever…_**

            As he rode up the cylindrical glass elevator with the same marble floor as the main hall, he knew right away what the announcement was for, but didn't want to think about it.  He had to, even though he didn't want to, and his knees started shaking.  He rested his head against the wall of the elevator, feeling an uncontrollable weakness in every part of his body.  **_Anxiety…_**  

*          *          *

            When the elevator came to a lurching stop, Squall opened his eyes and lifted his head off of the wall of the elevator.  He took a deep breath and headed outside.  He walked into the hallway, now crowded with everyone who took the exam – some twenty or thirty people.  Among the few, he saw Zell pacing back and forth.  He walked up to him and said hello.  

            "Oh, hey, man.  I'm nervous out of my mind, and all of this waiting isn't helping much," said Zell and gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, good luck to you, Squall."  He stuck out his hand, yet Squall still refused to shake it.  Zell seemed confused and he looked at the palm of his hand, "What, do I still have some ketchup stains on it?"

            Squall smiled weakly and said, "Good luck, Zell."

            Zell gave another nervous chuckle and continued to pace back and forth looking up once in a while to see whether the garden staff who was to deliver the results was there yet.  Squall turned around and found an empty space next to the wall to rest his seemingly heavy head.  He balanced on one leg with the other leg perpendicular to the wall and he closed his eyes.  

            In a few moments, he opened his eyes to the sound of a raspy voice saying Zell's name, "Zell?  Zell Dincht?"  

            "OHHHHH YEAHHHHH!" Apparently, Zell was just accepted to SeeD.  Squall saw Zell do a sort of victory dance and triumphantly walk off toward the employee.  

            The garden staff then looked down at the paper held in one of his or her robed hands again and called out another name, and then, "Squall?  Squall Leonhart?"  At the sound of his name, Squall shivered uncontrollably and felt himself break into a sweat even though he knew that he got in.

            Squall cradled off the wall and walked toward the garden staff employee.  When he walked by, he heard the employee say, "That is all, you are all dismissed."

            The students moaned and grumbled at the sound of this statement.  They were all extremely disappointed.  A few girls even broke into tears.  Nevertheless, they could do nothing about it.  They shall have to wait another two years to take the field exam again.  

            Once in the headmaster's room – a room with a red carpet stretching the length of it, going past a 19th Century Classical Wooden French desk at the far side of the room.  Atop the desk rested a tall mirror stretching half of the length towards the ceiling.  On the other side of the carpet, an exhibit of a wide variety of weapons leans against the wooden wall, with weapons from a gunblade like the one Squall has to a pair of nunchaku like the ones the messenger girl had.  As the group was led along the red carpet that laid neatly atop a dark marble floor, they reach a small staircase consisting of three steps also carpeted red that lead up to a chair resembling that of a king's.  **_Wow, the Headmaster has style…_  **

            Squall was led into a small row of people, consisting of Zell, another student that he doesn't know, himself, and the messenger girl – Selphie.   

            The Garden Staff told Cid, "These are the four students who passed the field exam today."

            The Headmaster, sitting in the throne of a chair, got up and began his small speech, "First of all, I would like to say – Congratulations!  We are proud to accept you four into SeeD.  SeeD mercenaries are combat specialists, as you all already know.  From now on, you, along with the rest of SeeD, are going to be dispatched the world over.  But, this is only one aspect of SeeD – when the time co-"

            Cid was interrupted by the Garden Staff, "Headmaster, it is almost time for the meeting – please make this as short as you possible can."  Then without waiting for a response, the employee turned to the four students in front of him and began, "SeeD is a valuable asset to Balamb Garden.  Its reputation is based on, and upheld, by each and every one of you.  Handle your mission with care."  Then he turned back to Cid, "Is that what you wanted to say, sir?"  

Cid opened his mouth to talk, but he just nodded yes.

The employee then turned back to the four students and gave each one of them a slip of paper, "Here is your SeeD rank report!

            He eyed the small rectangular sheet that was given to him.  It included the many factors that contributed to his final score, even though Squall didn't understand how they came up with these numbers.  His final rank was 9 out of 10.  He was a SeeD.

**_            Wow, I never thought that I did this good…hard work really does pay off…_**

            Squall heard Zell yelling at the other end of the line of students, "WHOOO-HOOO, this day just keeps getting better and better – SeeD rank 9, baby!"  **_Zell_****_ is the same rank as me…good for us._**

**Headmaster Cid gave the students a chance to pat themselves on the back the way Zell was doing aloud, and then he leaned close to all of them to give them a good piece of advice.  The first person he whispered to was Selphie, "I'm looking forward to the Garden Festival – best of luck."  The next person he talked to was the person unfamiliar to Squall, "Do your best even if you don't stand out."  Then Squall saw the Headmaster talk to Zell, "Try to control your emotions a little bit from now on, ok?"  Zell nodded and Cid moved on to Squall, "Ah, finally, a gunblade specialist in SeeD.  I wish you best of luck, Squall."  After this, Cid walked back to his chair and sat down, "This ends the SeeD inauguration address.  Dismissed!"**

            Squall and the group walked across the red carpet to the cylindrical glass elevator and they took it down to the main hall.  There, a small ground has gathered consisting of many of the people that didn't make it into SeeD.  Among them was Seifer.  Zell saw him and prepared for another fistfight but to his surprise, Seifer began to clap.  At first very quietly, but growing ever louder; then Raijin and Fujin join in with smiles on their faces.  Pretty soon, the whole main hall was filled with the sound of clapping, with Seifer at the front.  Even though Seifer was clapping, he had a look of hatred on his face.  He turned to Zell and he saw his face turn red from embarrassment.  He turned back to Seifer and his posse, nodded, and walked off to his dorm, now absurdly craving some rest.

            When he reached his dorm, Selphie the messenger girl is the one to greet him.  When he saw her, she was dressed in a new kind of uniform, and Squall recognized it right away.  **__**

            "Well?  How do I look?"  She picked up her arms and danced around in a circle.

            "…Giddy..." 

            Selphie giggled and goes, "You got one, too.  Go and put it on!"

            Squall followed her orders and walked into his dorm, closing the door behind him.  He changed into his SeeD uniform with pride.  It looked completely different from the cadet uniform.  The SeeD uniform was of darker color, almost black, and it had matching black pants as well.  To cover the neck, there was an elevated collar, with a complex metallic design in the front.  A metal chain, silver, connected the two halves of the collar, which swung freely from both sides of the neck.  The pants were baggy, leading down to tall black boots, shining as if light was constantly reflecting off it.  He admired it in the mirror.  **_Sure as hell fits better than that cadet uniform…_**  He opened the door and Selphie walked in, "Hey, lookin' good!  Now let's go to that party!!!"

            "Wait a minute, there's going to be a party?"

            "Of course, didn't you hear?"

            "…No…"

            "Well, don't worry…now you heard and you're coming…"

            Selphie grabbed his hand and led him out of the door, "Let's hit that pah-tay!"

As Squall was being dragged, he caught sight of the same glass of Orange Juice he had early this morning.  Now it was nine o'clock at night, more than twelve hours later, and Squall was going to the SeeD inauguration party.  


	7. Relax

**"Relax…"**

****

            "Come _on_, Squall.  Hurry up!  If you want to get to the party, move your butt," said Selphie as she dragged Squall in the direction of the garden ballroom.  Squall couldn't do anything; he was even surprised a girl that small had such a tight grip.  She proceeded to drag him through the hallways of the garden until they were finally at the ballroom.  Squall, even though he lived in the garden for a very large part of his life and saw pretty much everything there was to see in it, gawked at the huge room in front of him.  Everything about it, from the chandeliers to the tables filled with food lining the walls, was beautiful.  Squall quickly pulled up his hanging jaw and turned back to Selphie, "…What do I do _now_?"

            "Relax!  Have some dinner.  This is _our _night, and I don't know about you, but I'm definitely not going to waste it!"  She gave him a smile and a wink and walked off towards the dance floor.

            Squall didn't know what to do.  He wasn't a very social character and he despised occasions with a lot of people involved.  He, by instinct, walked to the table lined with food and sat down, realizing that he was pretty hungry.  He looked at the huge amount of food on the table, ranging from turkey to pork, from clam chowder to Filet Mignon.  He walked up and down the table trying to decide what to eat.  He strolled past the turkey sitting on the table, still whole, cut himself a leg and dug in.

*          *          *

            Squall picked his head up off the white marble wall that he was resting it on.  He finished dinner a while ago – maybe a half-hour – and after that he didn't know what to do with himself.  He came up to the wall and decided that he would have a rest.

            He managed to look up at the dark sky visible through the roof of the garden.  He stared at the beautiful gleaming moon hanging atop of his head.  **_I am a SeeD…_  He looked down at the floor to try and grasp the concept of those words.**

            A waitress, noticing Squall standing all alone in the corner of the Ballroom came up to him, "Some champagne, sir?"

            Squall took it from the metal tray resting atop the waitress's hand without looking up.  The waitress waited a few moments to be sure Squall didn't want anything else, and then walked away to continue doing her job.

            He took a sip from the cup and looked back up at the sky trying to do what Selphie told him.  **_Relax.  _A white streak of light shot across the sky.  His eyes followed the streak of white light left behind by the shooting star and it led his eyes to a girl standing in the center of the dance floor all by herself.  He looked at her until, as if she sensed his eyes on the side of her head, she turned to him and smiled.  She pointed her finger up into the air, obviously to show that she had seen the shooting star as well.  **_She's beautiful!  _**He scowled himself for showing his feelings; he despises being sensitive or "easy to penetrate."  The girl turned and began to walk towards Squall.**

*          *          *

"Hi," said the girl as she walked up to the SeeD in the corner of the dance floor, Squall.

            Squall looked at her, yet said nothing.  Even though he remained silent, he was amazed by the way she looked - her beautiful white dress, her dark hair, her matching black eyes.  The girl's hair was dyed reddish orange in strands at the front that hung from her head like strands of silk, or so it seemed to Squall.  

            "You're the cutest guy here," said the girl as she stared into Squall's blank face, "…wanna dance?"

            Squall took a sip of champagne and glanced at the girl, not knowing what to say.

            "Lemme guess – you only dance with someone you like, right?"  The girl obviously found Squall attractive, yet Squall remained quiet.

            "Ok, here goes nothing," the girl cleared her throat and looked deep into his eyes, "you're-going-to-like-me, you're-going-to-like-me, you're-going-to-like-me," the girl smiled.  "Did it work?" 

            Squall looked at her one more time and couldn't hold back a small smile.  He quickly got rid of it, though.  With one final glance at the girl, he revealed the truth - "…I can't dance."

            The girl chuckled and said, "Don't worry.  You'll be alright, I'll show you how," and she dragged him towards the dance floor giving Squall just enough time to quietly place his glass of champagne on the floor in the corner.  

            When Squall, being dragged by the arm, and the girl reached the dance floor they abruptly stopped and she put Squall's hands on her own body; the left hand on her right shoulder and the right hand on her left hip.  Squall followed the girl's body around as she showed him a few basic moves.  She twirled Squall in a circle and he collapsed onto her own body.  He stepped away embarrassed.  The girl fixed his hands on her body again in the same fashion and Squall decided to give it another try.  Squall attempted the same maneuver as before – a twirl – and he collapsed onto her body yet again.  **_Damn, I knew I shouldn't have done this!  _**He turned and began to walk away.  He barely took two steps when he felt two hands grab his arm and pull him back.  "Come on.  If you keep trying, you're gonna get it eventually."

            Squall put his hands on the girls body, now familiar with the way to do it, and they continued to do basic dance steps.  They lost track of where the rhythm of the music was taking them and the couple bumped into another pair of dancers, knocking Squall against the other male.  They glance at each other awkwardly when Squall's partner breaks the silence, "Watch it!"  She gave the guy who bumped Squall a mean look and turned back to her partner.  Squall looked at her, surprised at her little outburst.  She simply smiled and said, "Let's keep going, you're getting better."

            The pair continued to dance for quite some time until Squall was finally tired, "Can I go now?"****

            "Just one more dance."

            A new song came on – a ballet.  Squall's partner looked at him, "May I have this dance, dear sir?"

            Squall nodded hesitantly and they danced throughout the song, putting on rather a spectacular show with Squall's new-found talent.  When he sensed the song coming to an end, Squall gave another twirl a try and finally performed it successfully.  He spun his partner around and back and they end up extremely close to each other.  They look into each other's eyes and had an awkward silence.  The silence was broken by a new batch of fireworks that lit the night sky and the moon.  Squall looked up at the pyrotechnics and admired the red and green fires ablaze above his head.  The girl continued to stare at his face.  **_He's pretty cute…and a good dancer, with a bit of encouragement.  _As she glanced over his shoulder, the girl saw Headmaster Cid chatting with his associates.  She tapped Squall on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, but I got to go.  Maybe we can talk some other time," and with these words, she hastily walked off.**

            Squall opened his mouth to talk, "But wait, I don't even know your-" He realized that the girl was out of hearing range, "-name…"  He stood there, looking at the girl as she walked away from him.  **_…wow…_**

*          *          *

            Even though everything was barely visible through the cover of night, Squall stood out on the Ballroom balcony, taking a breather.  He couldn't get the girl that he danced with out of his head.  He never saw her before so it shouldn't have had any significance to him…but it did and he couldn't figure out why.  Behind him, he heard the soft sound of pebbles crunching as someone walked toward him.  Squall noticed that they were light footsteps and he had a feeling that the same girl who danced with him was coming toward him.  But he understood that it wasn't when he heard Quistis's voice, "Wow, you really _are a perfect student; even that dance was perfect."_

            Squall looked at her, partially disappointed, "Thank you."  Quistis walked up next to him and looked into the distance.  After a while, Squall became uncomfortable and asked, "…yes?"

            She chuckled, "So you'd dance with someone you don't even know, but you can't even _stand to be around me," she said, a little more seriously than a joke._

            "Whatever," Squall turned to her, "You're my instructor, and I'm your student; it's kind of awkward when you don't say anything…"

             Quistis continued to look into the distance, "Oh!  I completely forgot," she said, ignoring her student's last statement, "I've come to give you an order – you are to go to the secret area.  The place where students gather after-hours to chat a while…you know where it is, right?"

            Squall nodded yes.

            "Good, now go get changed and meet me outside of the training center."

            Squall smelled a faint odor of champagne in her mouth.  "Wait a minute, what are we going to do there?  If you're bringing me there just to tell them their violating curfew, then forget it!  Leave that for the disciplinary committee."

            Quistis gave a chuckle and her facial expression changed rapidly; her smile turned into a frown as if it was weighed down by lead at the corners, "Go get changed, Squall.  Meet me in front of the training center.  This is officially my last order…."  And with that, Quistis sighed and turned around to head back.  Squall remained a while longer, thinking about her last words.  **_'This may be my last order'?  What's that supposed to mean…?  _**He turned around and walked to his dorm to change.

            It was around midnight and the students of garden were fast asleep.  Everyone lay in his or her bed, dreaming about next years exams and how to become a SeeD faster.  Headmaster Cid was in his office doing paperwork like he normally does and he knows that he won't be getting any sleep at all.  The Garden Faculty patrolled the halls to catch any students up late.  They hovered around in their purple robes and yellow masks like ghosts, soundless to the human ear.  Squall, even though he was a SeeD, still didn't have the authority to walk around after hours so he was extra careful moving to his Dorm and from there to the Training Center.  When he was inside his dorm, he changed into his clothes quietly, so as not to wake his roommate up.  He put on his black coat and pants, his boots, and his white undershirt.  Atop his undershirt, he put on a chain; a chain with a silver tiger at the end – Griever.  He hung up his SeeD uniform with pride and, smiling, he turned around and began a slow pace towards the Training Facility.  

            He hid in the shadows from the Garden Faculty as they moved back and forth in front of him.  He put his back up against the wall and maneuvered his body forward, almost as soundlessly as the guards.  As the Garden Faculty passed him, he picked his speed up to a quiet jog and ran through the hall, around the fountain in the center of the Main hall and took a minor hallway to the Training Facility.  The Training Facility was the idea of the founder of Balamb Garden; it was meant to toughen up SeeDs in training for their real job. 

            It was dark inside of Balamb Garden except for a lamp here and there, so Squall had no trouble finding his way and being hidden at the same time.  Once the motion-sensing door to the Training Facility slid open, Squall walked in and, since he knew that Garden Faculty wasn't permitted inside, stood up straight, now not afraid to walk normally.  He knew that after the door he just walked through, there would be another hallway leading up to yet another door that connected to the Training Center.  This was done to ensure safety so that if one door breaks, there would be another left to work as a barrier, protecting the students of the Garden from the real monsters inside the Training Center.  After a couple of steps, he noticed Quistis leaning up against the metal wall of the hallway proceeding to the second door.  

            "Good, you came," she said as her student came closer and nodded.  "You have been in here before, right?  You know your way around?"  Squall nodded again.  "Excellent.  Let's go."

            The two began to walk and Quistis began to talk, "Oh, almost forgot!  You _do know how to junction magic, right?"_

**_            "Junctioning magic"?  What's that…?  _Squall slowly shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure."**

"What's this?!"  They stopped.  "A SeeD who doesn't know how to junction magic?!  I can't believe it!"  Said Quistis with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

            "…Whatever…can you just show me, please?" 

            "Sure thing," said Quistis, "All you have to do is tell a guardian force to drain the power of whatever magic you want it to and have access to as well.  Concentrate really hard and you are basically communicating with your guardian force, even though you might not notice it.  The force will then drain power from the magic – if it has the ability to – and it will power up one of your traits, whether it be physical or mental, greatly helping you in battle.  Remember, though, that you can junction magic if and only if you have the magic you want to junction and the GF has the ability to junction magic to the trait you want to junction to. Get it?"

            Squall absorbed the knowledge that was virtually emanating from his instructor in vibes and nodded. 

            "Good.  Now let's go."

            The door automatically opened and Squall could see inside the familiar Training Center.  It was a man-made swamp in which many different types of monsters resided.  Everywhere he looked, the metal walls were overgrown with plants and vines that made a creepy scene.  He followed Quistis as she led him over a wooden plank laid out across a ditch in the floor.  As he examined the ditch, he realized that it was actually a gigantic footprint.  A footprint with three claws that must have been at least four human feet in length.  

            Squall showed it to Quistis, who, knowing the dangers that resided in the Facility, responded, "Yes, this is the footprint of a T-Rexaur that lives in here – a new addition to the Training Facility.  A very grumpy fellow, though not very deadly.  He attacks without warning, usually because he's hungry.  He's a meat eater, and most of the stuff living in here is plants." 

            A shiver ran up Squall's spine.  **_"Usually because he is hungry"?  _**He didn't want to run into anything that could make up a footprint that huge, especially if it was hungry, so he looked up from the footprint and told Quistis to hurry.  She nodded obediently and they proceeded to jog.  Behind them, the sounds of tropical birds chirping and insects flying reminded Squall of how much of a real jungle this is.  He looked all around him and he could barely see anything past the thick boundaries of trees that have now formed a natural hallway on both of his sides.  Quistis took a right and Squall followed his instructor.  In a couple of moments, Squall felt his legs beginning to shake from the muscle tension.  He told Quistis to stop for a rest.  He knelt down on his knees and began to massage his legs.  Even though that he was massaging them, he noticed, they weren't getting any better.  He then realized that the vibrating wasn't being caused by muscle tension.  It was as if the ground itself was shaking.

            He slowly removed himself from the ground and turned to Quistis, who was already on her guard.  He put his hand on the gunblade holster and moved closer to his partner.  From around the bend behind them, a huge creature emerged running.  A creature surpassing anything living Squall had ever seen.  It stood on two legs and had a humongous head that was being held down close to the ground so as not to scrape the ceiling.  Squall could see that the giant monster was of an orange color, even though it was running so fast it was only a smudge on the green background.  **_We can't take on anything that big!  _**He looked at Quistis, who, despite her fear, stood ready for battle.  Squall looked once more at the huge monster and screamed, "RUN!!!"

            Quistis turned right away, eager to get out of the bulldozing monstrosity's way.  Even if it didn't feel like eating them, they would surely be trampled under its incredible weight and speed.  Squall took his hand off of his gunblade holster and ran full speed, following Quistis.  They ran through a trench filled with plant-life, making it harder to see.  Squall removed his gunblade from his holster and cut through the foliage.  He let Quistis through and they continued to run through the Training Center.  They made a left turn and got out of the way of the monster.  It ran past the intersection, and they calmed down.

            They barely caught their breath when they again felt the ground shaking beneath their feet.  **_Its coming back!_**  He and Quistis again ran.  From behind them, they heard the roar of the monster as it came back and made the same left turn they did.  Their hearts pumped and their legs burned, but they continued to run anyway.  The creature was gaining speed and fast.  **_Before long, _Squall thought, **_We're going to be a meal…_****

            Squall continued to swing his gunblade to clear the path of foliage and Quistis continued to run through.  They ran for another minute or so and then Squall heard Quistis yell, "There's the entrance!"

            He was relieved but he didn't dare give up strength.  He heard the pounding of the creature's feet and the roaring originating from it.  He heard Quistis pulling every last bit of air that she could in.  If she didn't, her legs would fail and she would fall to her peril.    

            He continued to run.   

            The clanking of his gunblade was loud in his ears as it connected with its holster.  It was a loud, metallic clanking that made a slight melody with the roaring and the thumping of his heart.  Squall put his hand on it to stop the clanking.  In front of him, he saw the secret area entrance – a hole.  A hole small enough so that they would get through, but their chaser wouldn't.  Foliage hung from on top of it and cleverly covered it so that anyone that wasn't looking directly at it wouldn't see it.  

            He continued to run.

            Beneath his feet, the muddy earth left tracks of his boots as his feet hit it.  It made a guttural sound that would have disgusted Squall if he was listening.  But he couldn't listen; he couldn't afford to listen, or else it would be the last thing that he listened to.  His hair wiped at his face as he ran.  Sweat streamed down the strands of it and leaked down his cheeks and nose; he brushed it away.  

            The roars grew louder by the second as the monster grew closer and closer.  Squall could feel its heavy breathing as it tried to keep up.  He smelled its breath; it smelled of burning tire and rotten eggs.  

            He continued to run.

            They neared the hole and Squall ducked down to access it.  Behind him, Quistis did the same.  They ducked and rolled inside and behind them they heard the creature hit the wall of the entrance as it tried to squeeze through only a moment later.  It's breathing elevated dust inside the entrance.  After a few moments of effort, the creature retreated and left the duo to catch their breath.  They felt the ground shake as it ran away.

Through her heavy breaths, Quistis uttered, "That, Squall, was a T-Rexaur."

*          *          *

            They slowly stood up and examined their new surroundings.  They were inside yet another hallway drilled right into the wall.  Crudely constructed, the walls were cracked and it looked as if they were quite old.  The hole which they came through was a clever disguise for what was hidden behind it.  As they reached the door, they realized that it opened automatically as well.  They walked through the door and Squall welcomed the site of the Garden from afar.  The Training Center was built as an add-on to the Garden, not being an actual part of it.  Without realizing it, Squall and Quistis ran through a long series of hallways leading from the Garden to the Training Center that was approximately 7 miles long, as stated in the Garden Library.  

            The Garden looked beautiful from afar.  In the night, the lights of it seemed amplified and brighter than ever.  When he examined his immediate surroundings, Squall realized that he was on a balcony.  In one corner of the balcony, there was a couple chatting.  In another, a couple was kissing.  Squall and Quistis walked by and rested themselves on the railing of the balcony.

            "God, it's been forever since I've been here.  What time is it?"

             "It's after midnight."

            "Oh well," said Quistis.  After a long pause, she continued, "I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor as of now…only a member of SeeD.  Who knows, maybe you and I might work together later."

            Squall replied coldly, "…Oh really?"  His mind was elsewhere.

            "Is that all you're going to say?"

            "If that's how it was decided, you have to abide by it, right?"

            Quistis sighed and looked into the distance.  "Perhaps you're right…they told me that I failed as an instructor, basically that I lacked leadership qualities."  Another long pause, "I was SeeD by the age of 15…an instructor by 17…only one year ago.  I wonder where I went wrong…what did I do?"  She turned to Squall, "Are you even listening?"

            Squall awakened from his daydream, "Are you done yet?  I don't really want to talk about other people's problems.  I mean, what am I supposed to say?"

            "I'm not asking you to say anything, Squall.  I'm asking you to listen…"

            "…Then go talk to a wall."  Even Squall was surprised at how cold his last remark was.

            "Forget it, Squall," said Quistis, "Aren't there times when you want to share _your _feelings?"

            Squall turned around and began to walk off, "Everyone has to take care of themselves.  I don't want to carry anyone's burden."  He exited through the sliding door leaving Quistis alone.

            She followed Squall's trail as he walked through the sliding doors, which closed behind him.  She turned back to the night which engulfed Garden, "…No leadership Qualities…failed as an instructor…perhaps they were right…"

*          *          *

            As Squall began to walk back towards Garden, he heard Quistis, his former instructor, crawl through the hole of an entrance into the secret area out into the open.  She ran up to him and they continued to quietly walk.  Careful not to make much noise so as not to anger the T-Rexaur probably patrolling the Training Center, they paced through the dense foliage that engulfed the center.  

            Halfway back, they heard the voice of a female somewhere in front of them, "Help!  Someone, please help me!!!"

            They began to run towards the origin of the voice.  When they got there, Squall realized that the woman calling for help was the same woman he saw yesterday morning, after his duel with Seifer.  She watched him through the glass-pane windows of the infirmary wearing a green shawl and a blue and white dress.  A creature, a resident, of the Training Center was attacking her.  

            The creature looked like an oversized wasp.  The stinger on its rear side was up and pointed towards its victims.  It hovered viciously, waiting to attack.  The wings flapped at extremely high speeds, capable of sending a grown man flying through the air if he was hit by one.  Squall ran in front of the woman and pulled griever from its holster.

            "Squall?!  Squall! Quisty!"  The girl yelled out to them to help her.

            Squall viciously swung his gunblade at the oversized insect to keep it at a distance.  Quistis ran up behind him and told the woman to run back.  The group backed up toward the Training Center's exit.  As the automatic doors slid open, Quistis led the female through and Squall ran through behind them.

            In front of them, the wasp-like creature decided to make a final attempt at an attack and dived towards them, kamikaze-like.  Unluckily, the doors closed as the creature was flying through, catching it by the head.  The body was cut clean off and the head rolled off into the bushes as the door reopened.  Its wings were still moving, but, Squall knew, they were only moving from muscle and nerve spasms.  It was dead.

            Behind them, two employees of the Garden Medical Team came up to the girl.  

            "It's not safe here.  You better come with us."

            "…Okay."  She took one last look at Squall and allowed herself to be led back to Garden.

            Quistis spoke up, "Who was that…?"

            They glanced at the green bile flowing from its decapitated neck to see if it was still moving.  The antenna on the head gave a small twitch, but it didn't mean anything.  When they were satisfied, they moved on.  They got to the entrance of the Training Center and stopped to rest.

            "You know, Squall, it's not like everyone can get by on their own," said Quistis as she walked off into the darkness of the hallway.

            "…Says who?"  Squall waited a while and then continued to walk through the shadows toward his dormitory room.

            In front of his dormitory, he ran into Zell, who was pacing back and forth.  When he catches sight of Squall, "Finally!  Where the _hell were you?!  I was looking everywhere.  Anyway, we're both members of SeeD, right?"_

            He knew Zell was leading him on, but Squall nodded in agreement nonetheless, now feeling light-headed from his overwhelming lack of sleep.

            "Well, guess what; we got our own rooms, baby!!!  Yours is a couple of steps down the hall from your old one!"  After he was finished delivering the news, the two began to walk into the Dormitory department, "…Man, it took me forever to get that to you….Seriously, where the hell were you?"

            "Meeting the inhabitants of Garden…and learning about others."

Zell said good-bye and walked into his room.  He eagerly wanted to do the same so he sped up pace and finally got to his own room.  

            The room was carpeted red and the walls were a beautiful color of blue.  A huge bed rested in one corner, and a normal sized refrigerator rested in another.  A desk stood in the center of the room, complementing the other pieces of furniture.  

            He threw his body onto the bed and closed his eyes, finally resting.  In a couple of minutes, he was fast asleep.


	8. Dream Sequence I

**Dream**

            A faint voice in the background.  Louder.  Louder.  A screaming voice in the background. 

            "Squall!  Come on, wake up!  We have our very first SeeD mission assigned to us.  Come _on, hurry!"_

            Squall's eyes opened as the sound of Selphie's voice came close to making his ears bleed.  He turned to her and sat up in bed, "What?  What time is it?"

            "You heard me.  Our first _SeeD__ mission.  We're going to Timber.  Meet by the front gate for the briefing, and hurry, it's already 11 o' clock!"  She turned and skipped out of the room. _

            He got out of bed and realized that he was still tired from the night before.  **_11?  Feels like five…  _**He sat back down but then got back out again at the thought of his SeeD mission.  He checked his hair with his hands and rushed out of the door.  

            As he neared the front gate, he noticed Selphie saluting Headmaster Cid and a Garden Faculty Employee in a purple robe.  He rushed next to her and formed a line.  

            Squall heard the Garden Faculty employee mumble under his breath, "…only one more minute…"

            From behind them, they heard a droning sound that was coming ever-closer.  Squall turned around and noticed that it was Zell speeding towards them on his hover-board.

            "Made it!  Sorry I'm late, everyone."  He jumped off of his fast moving board, swung it under his shoulder, and got in line.

            The Employee of Garden came up in front of Zell, "H-boards aren't permitted in Garden.  Have you forgotten?"

            "Sorry!  But this is really cool," said Zell, "This might even come in handy during a SeeD mission."

            "I'll be the judge of that."  From behind the lined up SeeDs appeared another Garden Faculty employee, as if from thin air.  The employee in front of Zell snatched the board from him and gave it to the other one, "Confiscate it."

            "What?!  But if I haven't used that board, I would have been late; I had good reason!"

            "That is not our problem - all of you are members of SeeD, but you have to follow orders and obey rules nevertheless.  You are to set an example for the students of Garden, and we are here to make sure you do."

            Zell mumbled something under his breath and Headmaster Cid came forward, "Well, now; about your first mission – you are to go to Timber, on the West continent.  There, you will be supporting a resistance faction known as the Timber Owls.  Once you get there, a member of the faction will initiate a conversation with you.  He will say, 'The forests of Timber sure have changed.'  At this point you should say, 'But the owls are still around.'  Do not forget that line."

            "Um…Just the three of us?"  Said Zell.

            The Garden Employee next to Cid spoke up, "That is correct.  We have agreed to do this job for very little money.  Normally, we would never agree to such requests, bu-"

            "Enough talk about that.  Squall, you are hereunto designated the squad leader.  Use your best judgment depending on the situation and you should get out fine.  Zell and  Selphie; you are Squall's support.  You are to help him in carrying out the mission objectives, which will be provided by the Timber Owls.  Good Luck."

*          *          *

            As the car from Balamb Garden carried them towards the train station heading to Timber, Squall relaxed his eyes as he sat in one of the chairs.  Zell and Selphie were talking about their very first mission, reviewing tactics, checking their weapons, the best possible way to help Squall, but at that moment, Squall couldn't care less.  His eyes were closed and his thoughts were at rest. 

            The car came to an abrupt stop and the group was jerked forward.  The door slid open and Squall, Zell, and Selphie came out.

            **_It's funny, _Squall thought, **_how much you can tell about someone just by how they walk.  Selphie the messenger girl pounced out of her seat and did the same out of the door, a very active person that girl is.  Zell, on the other hand, skipped out of the car, and he is usually very hyped up about something – either about how good of an opponent his shadow is or whether the hotdogs in the cafeteria will have good or bad ketchup today.  _****

            Squall thought about this some more and paced out of the car slowly, keeping to himself.  Pairs of eyes were looking at him from more than one direction.  There were at least two people on any random bench that looked at the approaching group.  Behind them, the car backfired and drove off back to garden.  They proceeded up the cracked old steps of the open train station, examining closely the people looking at them.  

            These people were homeless people, as Squall knew.  They had no other safe-haven, so they slept and lived at this train station.  The Balamb-Timber train station even came to be known by some as "Hobo Hill".  

            "Come on, Squall.  Let's hurry; we don't wanna miss the train, do we?"  Zell patted him on the back and picked up pace.  

            When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw the train standing at an old rusted station of brownish coloration.  The train itself looked new and shiny relative to its surroundings.  It seemed out of place.  Next to the train, two workers were doing their routine inspection of the latches, windows and such.  The group moved past them and came up to the cashier.

            Squall asked for three tickets, and within seconds, three tickets were produced from the cashier's palm.  Squall dropped off exact change, picked up the tickets, and moved on with his fellow SeeDs behind him.  

            As they came up to the entrance of the train, Squall flashed the tickets to the guard and he let them through.  Inside, there was a small room resembling a corridor that was bare except for a small computer console and a door. 

            Selphie ran up to the door and began screaming, "Open!  Open!! OPEN!!!"

            Zell was thrown back and Squall came up to her.  

            "You know," Selphie continued, "that you have to wave your ticket in front of that," she pointed at the computer console, "so that we could get in, right?"

            Squall nodded and walked up next to the computer console.  There was a small camera facing him and arrows on all of its four sides pointing at it.  Each one of the arrows read the same thing, "Wave Ticket Here."  He did so and a small beeping sound was heard.  The door gave way and Selphie turned to Squall.

            With a sudden mood-swing, Selphie said, "Tee-hee.  Thanks," and she ran inside.

            Zell turned to Squall and pointed at the door Selphie just ran through, "She's a weird one…"

            Squall nodded softly and walked through the door as well.  When he was inside, Zell ran past him and into their cabin.  From inside, Zell screamed "OHHHH YEAHHHH!!!"

            As he proceeded past Selphie, Squall heard her whispering to herself, "I like trains…I like trains…I like trains…I like trains…I like trains…."  He picked up pace.

            Inside, Squall saw Zell bouncing up and down on a soft, rose-red couch.  Next to the couch stood a bunker-bed that could fit three people.  Zell spoke up, "This train is awesome, man.  A 'Transcontinental Railroad', baby!  It even runs through an underwater _tunnel _to get to Timber," with a large grin on his face, Zell continued, "pretty neat, huh?"

            "Sure is…" Squall answered absent-mindedly.

            "And _this," he spread his arms wide, "__this, my friend, is a SeeD private cabin.  Check it out, they even have up-to-date magazines in here."  Just when Squall thought Zell's grin was the largest it could be, it grew even larger.  _

            "…I'm glad you're so excited."

            "Seriously, though," he put on a mock look of seriousness, "this is pretty damn amazing!  It pays to be a member of SeeD…"  He chuckled a little more.  Squall came up next to him and sat down around the oak-wood desk with the magazines on it.  "**_Timber maniac comics", "Timber maniac comics", and…what's this?  A normal magazine?!  Nope, "Timber maniac comics"..._**  

            Zell ripped the magazine out of Squall's hands and began to speak, "Hey, Squall?  Y'know anything about Timber?"

            "…I couldn't care less."

            "Come on, dude!  Don't be like that, I wanna tell you what I know."

            Before Squall could respond, Zell began.

            "Allow me to explain briefly.  Timber used to be a small country surrounded by luscious green forests, forests as far as the eye could see.  Anywhere you look, there was a sea of green.  Everyone could do as they please.  Unfortunately, 18 years ago Galbadia invaded.   And to this day, Timber is under strict Galbadian occupation and rule."

            "…Anything else?"

            "Yeah, just a little bit; some say that Timber will never be able to survive on its own if the Galbadians left.  They say that it would crumble and rot away.  But, others are optimistic.  There are resistance factions big and small in Timber who are willing to take that chance."

            "That's it?"

            "Yep, my friend."

            "Well, thank you, know-it-all-Zell."

            "Anytime, my friend.  Anytime."

            Squall continued to fish through the magazines until a small beeping noise from the door was heard.  It opened and Selphie walked in holding her hand to her forehead.

            "Guys?  I'm not…feeling well…"

            Zell was first to speak, "Maybe you should get some sleep if you're tired…"

            "Yeah, I'm really…sleepy…."  She began pacing towards the bed, but before she could get there, she fell to her knees and then onto her stomach.

            Zell jumped from his seat, "What the…?"

            Squall jumped up to, only to see Zell suffering the same fate.

            "Hey, Squall.  Something's wrong…with me…too…."  Before Squall could say anything, Zell also fell to the floor.

            Then, a sharp pain erupted in his head.  A shrieking pain, an everlasting pain.  He was lowered to his knees, screaming.  He put his hands up to his ears to block out the sound but it was still there, inside his head.  He grasped his forehead, but it couldn't be helped.  He passed out…  

*          *          *

****

            Squall awakened in the middle of the jungle.  Luscious green forests surrounded him.  He heard someone gasping for breath.  He tried to turn around, but he couldn't.  He was awake, but he wasn't in control of his own body.  He was running down a dirt path, panting for breath.  Behind him, he heard two more people panting for breath.

            **_A dream?_****__**

**From behind him, Squall heard a voice, "Uhh, Laguna?  Are you sure we're heading the right way?"**

            **_What the…?  Where am I?  Who's Laguna?_**

**The same voice again, "Oh boy, not again…"**

            Squall continued to run.  He tried to gain control of his body, but he couldn't.  All he felt is the loss of energy from the running.  After a short while, fifteen or so minutes, he stopped to rest.

            "Hey, Laguna!  Aren't we here to fight a war?  Against the so-called "Almighty Timber Army?"

            **_Fighting the Timber Army?  But only Galbadians ever fought the Timber Army.  Why the hell am I dreaming about Galbadians?!_**

            A second voice spoke, "Ward's right.  Why are we out here messing around with these animals?"

            At the sound of this, Squall's body turned around and shot a dog-like being as it rushed him from the boundary of the woods.

            When done, Squall began to speak involuntarily, "Well, you see…it's just that…uhh…"

            "Please, please, please don't tell me we're lost again," said voice number two.

            "Fine.  I won't.  But that's not the point.  We're heading back to Deling City anyway.  Avanté!"  The group picked up pace and continued to run.

            When they got to a car, Squall's body, obviously called Laguna, spoke, "There's the transport.  Get in, we're heading home!"

            They got in and rested themselves on old cotton seats, obviously meant to be of upper-class, but too old for the part. 

*          *          *

            "Sirs?  We're here."  The car came to a stop in the middle of the street and the group exited.

            Outside, Squall heard one of his group's people's voices, "Yo, driver!  You can't just park in the middle of the street like that!"  It was the guy named Ward.

            Laguna spoke, "Chill, man.  It's all good.  Let's go get a drink."

            The third voice spoke, "We're not just here for the booze, are we?  I mean, we _do have a war to fight after all, you know?"_

            "So we'll all get smashed…and _then _we'll charge," said Ward.  Laguna turned around to see a wide grin spread out on an even wider body.

            Ward was a tall and chubby fellow.  He carried a large harpoon around and used it as a spear.  Tall tales say that Ward used to be a sailor who hunted for big fish.  He loved hunting for big fish; big fish like whales.  One day, according to the tales, all of his crew went home sick from the flu.  It was a bad time of year, winter, and most sailors take a brake during this time of year but since he was addicted to sailing, he went out by himself anyway.  He and his boat were attacked by a whale of gigantic size.  The harpoon saved his life, for Ward hit the whale into the skin under the right eye, causing a pierce in the brain, killing it.  From that point on, he considered that harpoon lucky, carrying it into battle, and he never let go of it again.

            "Ward, Kiros…you two seem to misunderstand me.  All I want to do right now is have a friendly drink with my two best buds.  Look, let's just head to the bar.  There, we can discuss everything you want, alright?"  As Squall, Laguna, looked at Kiros and Ward, whom were both dressed in blue Galbadian Uniforms, TM-178's (The blue, light, uniform), they nodded and began to walk.  Ward tightened the bandana on his head before proceeding.

            Kiros, the other person in the group, was a dark-skinned man.  He wasn't as tall as the other two, but he was muscular in comparison to both.  On his hands were two katanas, weapons that acted like scissors when swung.  Basically, katanas are multiple blades, traditionally three, attached to a set of brass knuckles.  When the holder, Kiros in this case, moved his arms, the blades swung freely, cutting into the enemy.  He had long, black hair that was tied in braids hanging from the back of his head.  He unhooked the katanas and followed Ward, who, in turn, was following Laguna.

*          *          *

            The streets of Deling City were always lit up at night.  The clubs are ablaze from the street-lights and lamps lining the roads.  The automobiles of Deling City are all very bright colors, and they are ridden by virtually every resident.  

            "Here we are," said Laguna before proceeding into the exquisite Galbadian Hotel.  The hotel housed one of the most expensive bars in the whole city.  The service was incredible and the tables were always polished nicely, gleaming in the candlelight.  

            Laguna pushed the glass doors open and walked through, followed by his companions.  Inside, they were greeted by a clerk waiting for customers, "Greetings, gentlemen.  Your usual table is ready."  He smiled and led them to their comfy little table in the corner.  The group said thanks and sat down.

            **_Is this a dream?  What's happening to me?  Where am I?_**

            Laguna picked up the glass of water from his table that was set there by the waitress and stood up to perform a toast.

            "At ease, men.  We are going all out tonight, right boys?  Have fun, get hammered, whatever you want.  Just don't wimp out!"

            Kiros and Ward nodded as the waitress came over, "Can I take your order?"

            "Yes, please," said Laguna.  "The usual.  Two martinis and one mug of whiskey, please."

            "Yeah, and keep 'em coming!"  Yelled Ward.  "So, Laguna.  Julia should be making her appearance pretty soon.  You going for it tonight?"

            Behind Ward, Kiros nodded in approval, "Yeah, man.  Go for it."

            "Say what you want, boys.  But…can't you see that she's working."  Laguna was hesitant to speak to Julia, the hired piano-player at the bar.  He had a crush on her for two years running, more time than he spent in the Galbadia Military.  "She wouldn't want little ol' me to interrupt her, would she?"

            "Don't go back on your word.  You promised.  Hey, here she comes; now go and wave to her."

            In front of them, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties sat at the piano and began stretching her fingers.  She wore an elegant red dress that ran down to her ankles.  Her brunette hair partially covered the pearl necklace resting atop her neck.  She put her fingers to the piano and began to play.

            "Oh, give me a break…."   Laguna got up and pretended to stretch.  He looked at Kiros and Ward, gave a wry smile and turned back to Julia.  He strolled up to the other side of the piano and looked back at his buddies.  Ward gave the thumbs up sign while Kiros winked at him.  He hesitated, but turned around and paced up to Julia.  He waved to her and-  

            His leg cramped up!  He quickly grabbed his leg and turned around, desperate to get back to a safe haven.  Carrying his leg back to his chair, he sat down.

            **_Obviously not the charming type, are we?_**

            "Great work, Laguna!"  Ward put on a large smile.

            "Mission successful."  Kiros did the same.

            Ward continued to talk, "Wow, I didn't think that you would actually do it.  Our popularity rating just jumped one point."

            "Yeah, but you scored a negative three on the manliness scale."  Kiros laughed and turned back to his drink.      

            "Say what you want, I don't care."  Laguna gave a large sigh, "But Julia sure is pretty…"

            He began daydreaming about the day that Julia and him are on a deserted island with no way off.  They were the only people on the planet and the only way to preserve their species was to-

            **_Is this guy serious?_**

**Behind him, Laguna's posse gave a gasp of shock and Ward spoke, "Hey, Laguna.  I think we're going to go now…"**

            "What's the rush?  Stay a while."

            "It's on us tonight."  Kiros handed him a fifty and nodded, "Relax.  _You stay a while."_

            "Yeah, see ya later."  Ward and Kiros ran to the exit.

            He snapped out of his daydream and turned back to the piano.  Julia wasn't there.  She was walking towards his table!  

            "May I?"  Julia's beautiful voice filled his ears and he stuttered.

            "W-what?"  Squall sensed Laguna's thoughts, _Oh man, oh man!  It's really her!  What do I do?  What do I say?  Kiros?  Ward?  Help!!!_

**"S-s-sure, g-go a-ahead." **

            "Did I interrupt anything?"

            "No.  N-no, not a-at all."

            "Are you okay now?  You seemed bad up there."

            "W-what…?"

            "How's your leg?"

            "L-l-leg?  Oh, this p-piece of h-hardware.  Yeah, it h-happens all the t-time when I g-get nervous."  He gave a small chuckle and gave his glass of water a hasty sip.

            "You were nervous?"  She chuckled.

            "Y-y-yeah.  I'm still k-kinda…"

            "You can relax.  You don't have to get nervous around me."

            "W-what? Oh, s-s-sorry…"

            After a short moment of silence, Julia leaned closer to him, "Say," she began to whisper in his ear, "Would you like to go talk somewhere private?  I have a room here and you're welcome to…."

            "I-in your r-r-room?!"  He gulped.  _This is a dream…this is a dream…this has to be a dream!  No way in hell would she ever ask me to her room.  But, man is she beautiful.  Heck, who am I to argue with her decisions?_

**_            Eh?  Sicko…_**

            She continued to whisper, "Well, it's really hard to talk freely here; everyone's listening in."  She leaned back and Laguna noticed all of the faces eyeing the awkward couple.  He even heard voices behind his seat.

            "If you'd like to, please come by.  I've been meaning to talk to you."  She noticed Laguna's hesitant face, "You don't want to?"

            "Of course I do!"  His stuttering stopped.

            "Then I'll go and wait for you.  Ask for me at the front desk, eh?"

            "Sure thing."

            Julia, the lady in red, walked off into the lobby.

*          *          *

            "Reservations are 100 dollars in advance.  125 if made here.  Want a room for the night?"  The clerk spoke in a monotone voice without looking up from his magazine.    

**_            Yet another "Timber Maniacs" comic, I presume._**

            Dressed in a white dress-shirt and black pants with a red vest to complement that, the clerk looked like the stereotype image of what anyone would expect a clerk to look like.**__**

            "Hello, ah, can I please have the number of Julia's room?"  _Oh my god, I'm actually gonna do it!_

            "Ah, Mr. Laguna.  She's waiting for you in room 12B.  Here's the key…just in case."  The clerk gave a smile while handing him the key, and he turned back to his comic.  

            "Thanks…"

            He took the key and walked into the elevator beside the clerk.  _Going up._

            He pressed the button and was launched upward.  At the twelfth floor, the elevator came to a smooth stop and he proceeded out.  He walked down the carpeted hall of the twelfth floor until he came to her door.  _12B…this is it!  _

            He knocked on it and stepped back.  The doorknob wiggled around and the door opened.  

            "Laguna.  Thank you for coming.  Please, come in."  Julia moved over so that he could walk inside and Laguna walked in.

_            Oh man, oh man, oh man!  I always screw up by talking about myself too much…but that's not the case tonight.  I'm all ears for Julia!_

            "No, thank you f-for inviting m-me…"

            "Please," Julia waved towards a small table with two chairs next to it, "have a seat."

            Laguna nodded his head and nervously paced to the chair.  He sat down and looked at the floor.  

_            What do I do?  What do I say?  _

            Julia walked to the other chair and sat down.  

            "You know, I-I'm a big fan of yours."  Laguna was shivering.

            "So that's why you come to hear me play so often."

            "Y-you…saw me?"

            "Yes.  You were always smiling when you listened to me, right?"

            Laguna gulped and Julia continued to talk.

            "You have beautiful eyes, you know that?"

            "I…I do?"

            Julia nodded, "Though they look a bit scared right now.  Don't worry.  I'm not gonna pluck 'em and eat 'em.  I just want to talk to you, gazing into those…beautiful eyes."

            Laguna stared into her eyes and moved closer.

            Julia turned away from his eyes, "W-would you l-like a drink?"  Now she was the one stuttering, "w-wine perhaps?"

            "Sure."

*          *          *

            "Yeah, I don't like fighting too much, but you get to travel everywhere.  It's the action that's cool.  I like that.  Plus, I have my two best buds Kiros and Ward to help me out.  We have a good time.  Hey, I have a good idea.  We should all go drinking some time.  That would be fun.  And, uh…what was I saying?  Oh yeah, so anyway; I wanna quit the army soon and go into journalism.  I mean, sure I fight and all, but the pen is mightier than the sword.  I really want to tell people about everything I've seen on my travels…"

**_            Wow, he's already loosened up._**

            Laguna shifted his position on the floor as he leaned up against the foot of the bed.  

            "So, like, the other day, one of my articles made the reader's column.  Pretty cool, huh?  Yeah, that was way cool…"

            "I'm happy for you."  Julia still sat at her chair with a cup of wine in her hand.  She was looking at Laguna as he continued to talk about himself.

_            Yikes!  I'm talking about myself too much again!  _

            "Tell me some more about yourself, Julia.  What do you want to do?"

            "Well, I haven't really given it much thought but, if I really had to choose, I guess that I would want to sing…"  She looked at her glass of wine and took a sip. "I don't want to only to play the piano.  I want to sing."

            "Oh.  I would really love to hear it."

            "Yes, but…I'm no good at writing lyrics.  To tell the truth, I'm horrible at it…"

            "Yeah, that must be tough."

            "Yeah, it is.  But I think I can come up with something, thanks to you."

            "'Thanks to me?'"  Laguna reddened.

            "Yes…because of all the faces you've shown me.  When you feel anger inside.  When you're happy.  When you're sad.  All of those faces…inspire me to come up with something.  I'm sure I can do it."

**_            Exactly how many times did this Laguna guy go to the bar?_**

            "Wow…I _must be dreaming!"_

            Julia got off of the bed and sat down on the floor next to him, "But this isn't a dream…is it?"  

            They gazed in each other's eyes and their faces moved towards each other.  Just when they were about to kiss, there was a knock on the door.  Julia pulled her face away and Laguna jumped up.  

            "Who is it?"

            Kiros yelled through the door, "Yo, Laguna!  New orders!  Meet at the presidential palace, on the double!"

            Julia tugged at Laguna's sleeve, "Can we meet again?"

            "Definitely.  I wouldn't miss hearing you sing for the world!"

            Julia smiled and Laguna opened the door, and walked through.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *  *  

(for all the ppl who didn't play FFVIII) WTF was that??!?!  Who the hell is Laguna?!  Who's Ward and Kiros?!  What does it have to do with Squall?!  Who was responsible for this whole mess?!  

So many questions to be answered…in the next chapter.  Keep reading.

Oi, so few reviews….  If you read up to this point, you could at least leave some sort of small comment or something saying how much you loved the story (O.o).  Maybe some constructive criticism…

Ah, school's ending.  I'm leaving Saturday, so I fear that I will not be able to continue writing this story for quite some time….  Even worse, I'm going to high school after summer, so my free time will be even more limited…If you're willing to wait and stick with my story for a little more than a little while, I would greatly appreciate it.  I'm going to make the next chapter I write worth it.  Bear with me for now, though.  Thx muchly, ppl.  R&R 


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